Supreme Court to Hear Plea Challenging Protest Removal Order on Chandigarh-Mohali Road

The Supreme Court agreed to hear a plea challenging a Punjab and Haryana High Court order to clear Chandigarh-Mohali road protesters. The protesters, involved in a non-violent campaign for the release of Sikh prisoners, face claims of using religious sentiments as a shield. This plea contends that the protests don’t disrupt traffic.

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to review a plea challenging a Punjab and Haryana High Court directive to clear the Chandigarh-Mohali road of protesters.

Previously, in May, the apex court had stayed the execution of the April 9 high court order, linking it with another petition on the same issue.

A bench comprising Justices B R Gavai, K V Viswanathan, and N Kotiswar Singh has now sought responses from the NGO that initially filed the petition prompting the high court order.

The April 9 order criticized Punjab and Chandigarh authorities for failing to address commuter grievances and accused some protesters of misusing religious sentiments by shielding themselves behind the Guru Granth Sahib.

The fresh plea, submitted by 'Kaumi Insaf Morcha', asserts that the peaceful protest seeks the release of Sikh prisoners and does not disrupt traffic flow, as confirmed by state affidavits. The petitioners argue that the high court's order is based on erroneous assumptions about their motives.

The high court had observed that the protests caused continuous inconvenience to commuters in the Tri-city area and urged local administrations to act on prior apex court rulings on road protests.

(With inputs from agencies.)