SC interlocutors visit Shaheen Bagh sans Wajahat Habibullah

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SC interlocutors visit Shaheen Bagh sans Wajahat Habibullah

Former CIC, Habibullah was part of this team along with senior lawyers Sadhna Ramachandran and Sanjay Hegde

Wednesday February 19, 2020 5:29 PM, ummid.com with inputs from IANS

[Dadis of Shaheen Bagh (Photo: Twitter/Tarique Anwer/@tanwer_m)]

New Delhi: While two of three Supreme Court appointed interlocutors reached Shaheen Bagh on Wednesday, the third interlocutor former Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah skipped the meet with protesters for reasons unknown.

The Supreme Court on Monday had appointed a team of three interlocutors to be led by senior advocate Sanjay Hedge to talk to the Shaheen Bagh protesters with regard to shifting the protest site, and file report in the court.

Former CIC, Habibullah was part of this team along with senior lawyers Sadhna Ramachandran and Sanjay Hegde.

Habibullah on Tuesday had claimed that he had not got any official word for his inclusion in the team of interlocutors, which is being seen as a reason for his absence from the meet.

Though he was unavailable for comments, as calls made to him went unanswered.

A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice K.M. Joseph on Monday citing replication of protests involving blocking of public roads, had said: "We are concerned, what will happen if people start hitting the streets and blocking the roads while protesting... it is a concern."

The court had suggested that the Delhi Police may also offer an alternative site to the protesters at Shaheen Bagh.

Media barred

Media covering dialogue between the Supreme Court appointed interlocutors and Shaheen Bagh protesters was told to leave protest site after the interlocutors refused to speak in front of them.

The decision came after a brief argument between the interlocutors and protesters over the presence of media during the dialogue, as protesters weighed in on having conversation in presence of the media.

"Jo baat hogi sabke saamne hogi" (Talks will take place in front of everyone), women protesters at Shaheen Bagh shouted as senior lawyer Sadhna Ramachandran announced that interaction will not start before video recordings were stopped.

Addressing the protesters, senior lawyer said, "If you (protesters) want to talk before media, you can speak. But we will not speak." Ramachandran said.

"We have 4 days to talk, after that we will have other ways for dialogue," Ramachandran added.

The senior lawyer had maintained since the start of her address that media should not be allowed inside the protest site during the talks.

While protesters wanted media to stay and record the dialogues, eventually it was decided that media will have to leave the protest site and the protesters will provide minutes of the interaction with Interlocutors to the media after the meeting.

Let's Resolve the Issue Together

Ramachandran while reading out the Supreme Court order told protesters to respect each other's rights and resolve the issue together.

“The Supreme Court order acknowledges your (people’s) right to protest, however, this agitation is leading to a blockade. It is causing disruption in people’s daily lives and as much as it is your right to protest, it is also their right to conduct their lives without interruption", Ramachandran said.

"As a country, we must respect each other’s rights. We should resolve this issue together and should become a global example", she added.

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