Supreme Court appointed interlocutors file report on Shaheen Bagh protests, next hearing on February 26

The Supreme Court-appointed interlocutors on Monday submitted their report on the dialogue with the protestors Delhi's Shaheen Bagh against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Advocates Sadhna Ramachandran and Sanjay Hegde filed the report before a two-judge bench comprising of justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph.

The bench made it clear that the report will not be shared with the petitioners and counsels representing the Centre and Delhi Police at this stage.

When the counsels for one of the petitioners asked for the report to be shared with them, the bench stated, "We are here. Everyone is here. Let us have the benefit of the report first. The copy of the report is for the court only."

The matter will be heard on February 26.

The interlocutors held three days of talks with the protesters to persuade them to clear off the roads that have been blocked and shift the protests to some other place.

On Sunday, another Supreme Court-appointed mediator, Wajahat Habibullah, filed an affidavit in the apex court regarding road blockage in Shaheen Bagh. In his affidavit, he blamed the police for 'unnecessarily blocking the roads' and also called the protests in Shaheen Bagh 'peaceful.'

Wajahat stated that that the police have blocked five points around Shaheen Bagh, adding that if the blockade is removed then the traffic will function normally.

Hundreds of people have been protesting in at South Delhi's Shaheen Bagh against the CAA and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) for over two months. Protesters, largely comprising women, have refused to move out of the road before their demands are met.