The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain petitions filed against MCD’s anti-encroachment drive in Shaheen Bagh area. The Supreme Court asked the CPI(M) and other petitioners to approach the Delhi High Court.
The Delhi unit of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and Hawkers Union had approached the Supreme Court against the demolition of buildings under the guise of an anti-encroachment drive by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation, calling it “the principles of natural justice, statutes”. and a violation of the Constitution”.
The petitioners have contended that they are not unauthorized occupants or encroachers as alleged by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation and others. On Monday, the Supreme Court heard the petitions and made it clear that the court would not hear them further.
The apex court asked the petitioner to approach the High Court with regard to the CPI(M)’s plea against demolition of buildings in South Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh area, “let the affected parties come to court”.
Anti-encroachment operation: Officers reached Shaheen Bagh with bulldozers
Earlier in the day, hundreds of locals, including women, sat on a dharna and protested as South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) officials reached Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh area with bulldozers to carry out the anti-encroachment operation. The protesters raised slogans against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled SDMC and the central government and demanded that the action be stopped. Shaheen Bagh, which comes under the Central Zone under SDMC, was the center of protests and dharnas against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in December 2019. The sit-in demonstration here was called off in March 2020 after the outbreak of the COVID epidemic in the city.