The Supreme Court of India on May 9, 2022 refused to listen to a plea filed by the Communist Party of India – Marxist (CPI-M) challenging the demolition drive at Shaheen Bagh by the municipality.

Earlier, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) had arranged for an “anti-encroachment drive” in Shaheen Bagh at 11 AM on Monday. The CPI-M that prepared a plea regarding the demolition drive in Jahangirpuri also included Shaheen Bagh in its appeal. The legal representative further asked that the petition be heard early to prevent possible damage in the popular anti-CAA protest spot.

However, the Bench comprising Justices L. Nageswara Rao and B. R. Gavai said that it cannot interfere in a demolition drive only at the behest of a political party. Instead, it asked that the plea be sent to the Delhi High Court.

“What is this CPI-M party filing the case? We can understand if somebody aggrieved is filing the writ petition,” Justice Rao said while addressing senior advocate P. V. Surendranath.

In reply, Surendranath said that the petition was filed in public interest with a hawkers’ union as the second petitioner. When the Bench again refused to hear the plea, he asked that the demolition be stopped for two weeks. However, the apex court asked him to approach the lower court and directed the Solicitor General not to “do anything” till the next day.

Meanwhile, the Solicitor General accused the petitioners of misrepresenting facts. He said that the High Court had earlier issued orders based on resident complaints about encroachment. Stressing that the SDMC has been doing this work since April, he accused the petitioners of trying to make headlines of the Supreme Court stopping the demolitions.

On April 20, a Supreme Court bench led by the Chief Justice of India ordered a status quo report on the Jahangirpuri demolitions by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation. However, Rao said that the Bench is not seized of all encroachment matters. Even in the Jahangirpuri case, the Bench stressed that it cannot pass orders. As such, the matter regarding the Shaheen Bagh demolition was dismissed.

On Monday morning, MLA Amantullah Khan spoke to authorities and halted the bulldozers. He stated that any “illegal structures” in the region were removed earlier. As such, there was no need for another anti-encroachment drive.

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Evolution of Bulldozer Injustice

The post SC dismisses CPI-M’s Shaheen Bagh plea appeared first on SabrangIndia.

South Delhi Municipal Corporation’s (SDMC) bulldozers returned from Shaheen Bagh area on May 9, without initiating the anti-encroachment drive in face of residents’ vehement protests. According to NDTV, MLA Amantullah Khan intervened and told authorities that all illegal structures have already been removed.

Just as the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) prepared to start its anti-encroachment drive, thousands of people gathered on the streets and sat on bulldozers in defiance of the demolition. Visuals shared on Twitter showed the presence of paramilitary forces while residents block the streets.

Like Jahangirpuri, media climbed atop bulldozers. The people of Shaheen bagh are protesting. pic.twitter.com/hCiA1hK36t

— Alishan Jafri (@alishan_jafri) May 9, 2022

The bulldozers were to arrive earlier on May 6 but this was deferred to Monday owing to the unavailability of adequate security forces. Today, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supporters joined the crowded protests, including AAP MLA from Okhla Amanatullah Khan, reported NDTV. Khan said that there were no illegal structures in the area because he had earlier removed the encroachments.

In April, Delhi BJP Chief Adesh Gupta wrote to the South Delhi Mayor, Mukesh Suryan, about the removal of encroachment by “Rohingyas, Bangladeshis and anti-social elements”. By May, the SDMC has come up with a 10-day action plan to remove encroachment from Shaheen Bagh, Okhla and similar Muslim majority areas, reported NDTV. The first phase of this plan will continue till May 13.

In defiance of this, shopkeepers, residents and political party members gathered at Shaheen Bagh in preparation of the 11 A.M demolition. Dissenters accused the administration of playing into communal politics and specifically targeting Muslim areas. Protesters, speaking to media persons, claimed that the place has been targeted due to the anti-CAA protests in 2019.

Meanwhile, SDMC’s standing committee (central zone) Chairperson Rajpal told a news wire agency that the municipality will remove encroachments from wherever they were.

“Municipality will do its work, our workers and officials are ready, teams and bulldozers have been organised,” he said. Similarly, South Delhi mayor Mukesh Suryan told the media that the people of Delhi support this drive.

Earlier, Jahangirpuri had witnessed a similar demolition drive that was eventually stopped at the behest of a Supreme Court order Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat. However, at the time the bulldozers went ahead with the move the court had to intervene again. The apex court took serious note of this.

According to NDTV, the CPI-M submitted a petition against the Jahangirpuri demolition to also include Shaheen Bagh. Although the matter is to be heard today by the Supreme Court, the party’s lawyer sought an urgent hearing. The CJI asked the lawyer to mention the plea before the bench that is hearing the matter.

The CPI-M in its plea alleged that these demolitions do not follow the due process of law and blindly follow the communal politics worsening in India. Earlier, Dainik Jagran reported that the national capital’s Shaheen Bagh and Okhla may be subject to drives against “illegal constructions” after the excess action in Jahangirpuri. Aside from the ‘bulldozer politics’ popularised since the violence in Khargone, these regions are also victim to the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) and Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) accusations of “Rohingya and Bangladeshi infiltrations”.

The ruling regime claims that it is the party’s ‘mission’ to ‘rid’ the city and country of alleged Rohingya and Bangladeshi infiltrators. In turn, AAP leaders deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, MLA Aatishi Marlena, RS MP Raghav Chaddha among others accuse the BJP of “settling Rohingya and Bangladeshis in Jahangirpuri” and similar places. They said that Rohingya and Bangladeshis are then used to fuel communal tension.

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The post Shaheen Bagh demolition drive halted appeared first on SabrangIndia.