NEW DELHI: Delhi High Court on Thursday expressed alarm over the ongoing dharna outside chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence and observed that any permission to allow such demonstrations in a residential area could set a wrong precedent.
“There is no problem if you come, protest and leave. But this is going on for 11days. Once you set a precedent, anyone will come and squat there. If this is permitted, then you know what the state of certain areas, such as Ramlila Ground and Jantar Mantar, is, where squatting and protests are permitted. We cannot have that kind of a situation in a residential colony,” Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva remarked.
The court’s concerns came while hearing a plea by Civil Lines residents’ association against the protest stating that it was blocking a road and causing inconvenience to the residents. It contended that the protest had been permitted in a residential area and roads leading there were barricaded, which is in violation of the high court’s 2017 direction to restrict dharnas in residential areas and keep the roads clear.
The mayors of the three municipal corporations have been protesting outside Kejriwal’s residence seeking release of funds and clearance of alleged pending dues payable to them.
The court, during the hearing, observed that tents had come up in the area and there were news reports that stated that the mayors were going to run their office from there. It asked Delhi Police how could office run from there and what arrangements were in place for the protesters to go about their daily routines.
While holding protests or dharnas is a fundamental right, people cannot be “squatting in a residential area”, it said.
It underlined that public functionaries deal with all kinds of people. “Today it’s one group who are protesting, tomorrow it will be another. Today the protest is peaceful. But once a precedent is set, there will be another group protesting there and then you will come running,” the court said, posting the matter for Friday.
In its report, Delhi Police said 20-25 people, including the mayors, started their protest from December 7 at Flag Staff Road outside the CM’s residence.