Disappointed when Noida-Faridabad road near Shaheen Bagh barricaded again: SC appointed mediator Hegde

The Supreme Court-appointed mediator Sanjay Hegde on Shaheen Bagh has said that he was happy about opening of the Noida-Faridabad road by the police, but was disappointed later when heard that the road was again barricaded by the police for no apparent reason.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Hegde said, "This morning we were very happy about the opening of the Noida-Faridabad road by the police. This brought substantial relief to the Faridabad commuters. However just as we were happy we were deeply disappointed later when we heard that the road was again barricaded by the police for no apparent reason."

"This was extremely distressing to us and we wish to emphasize that the action of re barricading the roads defeats the very purpose of confidence-building on the part of the police," he said.

Hegde further said, "We wish to thank the protestors and the organisers and the volunteers for their disciplined interaction on Friday. We also wish to thank the police for helping us at the protest site and in the interaction. We thank media for its discipline and restraint in filming our interaction with the protestors."

He further said, "We will not be holding a public interaction on Saturday to enable the protestors to come to an independent conclusion as to the way forward. We will return on Sunday only if we deem it necessary and feasible to do so."

The Supreme Court had on Monday appointed senior lawyers Sanjay Hegde and Sadhna Ramachandran to visit Shaheen Bagh and talk to protesters to convince them to hold the agitation at an alternative site.

The apex court has fixed the matter for further hearing on February 24.