A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court on Monday seeking appropriate directions to Delhi Police to open Kalindi Kunj Shaheen Bagh stretch, which is closed due to sit-in protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
The petition is filed by advocate Amit Sahni against Delhi High Court refusal to pass any order or direction to the police.
Around 700 women have been camping day and night for almost a month now and they have refused to move till the controversial statute is withdrawn.
A High Court bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar, held that the police have all power, jurisdiction, and authority to control the traffic, wherever protests or agitations are going on, in the larger public interest.
While disposing of the petition, the Court said that maintaining law and order is a state function and concerned authorities should look into it in the larger public interest.
The Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh Stretch i.e. Road No. 13 A (between Mathura Road and Kalindi Kunj) as well as Okhla underpass, were closed on December 15, 2019, due to ongoing protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) as a temporary measure, but the road closure was extended from time to time till date.
The petitioner contended that the closure of the road is causing huge inconvenience to the lacs of commuters every day, who are compelled to take different routes for the last one month.
News reports reveal that as per traffic police estimates, Ashram Chowk is used by around 300,00 vehicles on an average every day. With the Kalindi Kunj road closure, an additional 1,00,000 are flowing through the intersection.