The dispute over access to Delhi’s Jantar Mantar protest site intensified on Wednesday after Kerala Assembly Opposition Leader Pinarayi Vijayan alleged that the Centre had taken away the capital’s designated protest space and urged people to reclaim it.
Vijayan also demanded the resignation and prosecution of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. In a post on X, the veteran CPI(M) leader said the right to protest should not be confined to a designated site and alleged that even the limited space available under the Narendra Modi-led government was being taken away.
His remarks followed the detention and court proceedings involving three protesters from the Cockroach Janta Party, who were allegedly protesting against the Chief Election Commissioner. Vijayan said CJP leaders Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and Ajinkya Shinde were detained for allegedly waving the national flag during the protest.
According to the report, Das and Ranka were remanded by a Delhi court on Wednesday to five days of judicial custody. They were accused of trespassing on private property while attempting to reach Jantar Mantar, which the report described as a denotified protest site.
Shinde was bound down to maintain peace and good behaviour for six months. He was released on a personal bond and a surety of Rs 5,000.
Vijayan described the reported detention of the protesters as an irony, arguing that the national flag belonged to the people and not to those in power. He called for people to unite to reclaim Jantar Mantar and defend the right to dissent.
The developments place renewed attention on the administrative boundaries governing protests in the national capital. The immediate dispute involves whether protesters can access the designated area, while the court proceedings against Das and Ranka concern the allegation that they entered private property to reach it.
The report does not provide details of any fresh administrative order changing access to Jantar Mantar or of the specific restrictions that protesters were required to follow. It also does not include a response from the Centre, the Delhi Police or the Chief Election Commissioner to Vijayan’s demands.
The next formal development in the case will be the continuation of the judicial process involving Das and Ranka, while Shinde’s six-month peace and good-behaviour bond remains in force.
