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Supreme Court-appointed interlocutors begin talks with Shaheen Bagh protesters

The Supreme Court-appointed interlocutors visited Shaheen Bagh on Wednesday to hold talks with the protesters and find a way to end the road blockade in the area.

The apex court had on Tuesday appointed senior lawyers Sanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran to hold talks with the protesters as it suggested that the agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) should be held at an alternative site where no public place is blocked.

The protesters, largely comprising women, have been on a sit-in against the CAA-NRC-NPR for over two months.

Talking to reporters, Sanjay Hegde and Ramachandran said they had come to Shaheen Bagh on the orders of Supreme Court and hoped to resolve the matter with everybody's cooperation.

"We have come here according to the order of the Supreme Court. We hope to speak to everyone. We hope to resolve the matter with everybody's cooperation," Hegde said. 

Speaking to protesters, Ramachandran said, "Supreme Court has said that you have the right to protest. The law (CAA) has been challenged in the Supreme Court. But like us, others too have their rights, like right to use roads, open their shops."

Earlier on Tuesday, the two-judge bench of Justice SK Kaul and Justice KM Joseph observed that while people are completely free to hold protests, it cannot become a source of inconvenience for others.

"We are not saying that they do not have the right to protest, but if everyone starts blocking the road, how can it be allowed to continue?" the bench asked.

Last week, the court had said that the protestors cannot block public roads and create inconvenience for others.

"You cannot block the public roads. There cannot be indefinite period of protest in such an area. If you want to protest, it has to be in an area identified for protest," the bench had said.

The next hearing in the case has been scheduled for February 24.

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