Bengaluru Police have denied permission for a Tiranga March planned at Town Hall on Friday, citing a High Court order that designates Freedom Park as the venue for protests in the city. The march was scheduled to begin at 4 pm and end at the Quit India Memorial.
The event was organised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) in association with Jagruta Karnataka, AISA Karnataka and My Vote, My Right. Organisers said the march was being held in solidarity with CJP co-convener Ashutosh Ranka and spokesperson Saurav Das.
A senior police officer said permission was denied because the organisers had sought to hold the march at Town Hall, while the High Court order identifies Freedom Park as the designated location for protests. The police cited the order as the basis for refusing the requested venue.
The decision places the enforcement of the court-designated protest venue at the centre of the dispute. The organisers had proposed a route beginning at Town Hall and concluding at the Quit India Memorial, but the police response means the event could not proceed at the location specified in their request.
The march was linked to the detention and judicial custody of Das and Ranka in Delhi. According to the report, the two CJP leaders were sent to five-day judicial custody and lodged in Tihar Jail on October 14. They were allegedly detained for violating peace bonds and trespassing into Jantar Mantar, which has been denotified as a protest area.
Das and Ranka had signed bonds to maintain peace for a year after they were detained the previous week. The police action in Bengaluru followed the organisers’ decision to seek permission for a public march in solidarity with them.
The episode highlights how the choice of venue can determine whether a public demonstration receives permission, even when the proposed event is linked to a stated political or civic cause. In this case, the police did not cite the purpose of the march as the reason for denial; the stated issue was the location requested by the organisers.
Freedom Park has been identified by the High Court order as the site for protests, while Town Hall was the venue named in the organisers’ application. The available information does not indicate whether the organisers sought permission to shift the march to Freedom Park or whether the police offered an alternative route or venue.
The police denial came on the day the march was scheduled to take place. Further action by the organisers, including any revised request concerning Freedom Park, was not specified in the report.
