HC asks Delhi Police to deal with Shaheen Bagh protest

The high court on Tuesday directed the Delhi Police to deal with the issue of easing traffic on the Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch on account of the anti-CAA protest, keeping in mind the "larger public interest" and in accordance with the law in a time-bound manner.

A Division Bench of the Delhi High Court presided by Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice C. Harishankar after passing the directions, disposed off the plea.

The plea filed by advocate Amit Sahni sought court's directions to withdraw the closure of Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch i.e. Road No. 13 A (between Mathura Road and Kalindi Kunj) as well as Okhla underpass, which were closed on December 15, 2019 for ongoing protests against Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizen (NRC) as a temporary measure.

However, the road closure was extended from time to time till date, thereby causing huge inconvenience/hardship to the lakhs of commuters everyday, who were compelled to take different route for the last one month.

"The Kalindi Kunj stretch, which is quite crucial as the same connects Delhi, Faridabad (Haryana) and Noida (Uttar Pradesh) has been shut down since 15-12-2019 due to protests against the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) passed by the Parliament of India. Several Lacs commuters using the aforesaid road are forced to use alternative routes Delhi-Noida-Delhi (DND) Expressway and Ashram, which not only results in brunt of hours of traffic jams but wastage of fuel and precious time also (sic.)," the plea read.IANS