New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave the right to protest its due, and then asked who else was waiting for the same patch of ground.
"You cannot occupy a site for all times to come. There are other protesters. Where will the farmers go? Where will the workers go? Where will the trade unions go? Where will the homeless go? Everybody has a right to protest," Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said, heading a bench with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana.
The court was hearing a batch of petitions arising from the October protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Some allege mass detention, assault on protesters, journalists and lawyers, arbitrary closure of metro stations and an internet shutdown. Others, from traders' bodies, say the demonstrations have cost them the festive season.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, for Delhi's trading associations, told the court that about 50 lakh people live around Ramlila Maidan, and that shops were shut and Connaught Place deserted on Tuesday. He asked for no protests or dharnas for two months. One traders' body has estimated losses of Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 12,000 crore.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said permission for the July protest was for one day, but the site was occupied for 17. He said the protesters marched towards Parliament without permission, and that people were "removed", not detained.
Senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy, for petitioners, said Jantar Mantar is a notified protest site and about 7,000 people were detained. "Are we not bleeding then as a democracy?" she asked. Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan sought details of the surveillance at protest sites and the law under which it was carried out; Mehta replied that there was only CCTV.
The bench directed the traders to implead the organisers of the protests. "No court can determine the issue unless the organisers are made parties," it said, and issued notice to the Centre on the Kirana Committee Delhi's plea for a halt during the festival season. The court also said an order granting or refusing permission must state its reasons, and that a designated site must come with designated hours.
The connected petitions will be split into nine categories for separate hearings. The plea on the protection of women journalists will be taken up after Diwali. The matters return on November 23.