The Delhi High Court has allowed urgent listing of petitions by lawyers’ and traders’ associations challenging restrictions imposed around protests in central and south Delhi, including barricades and the denial of permission to demonstrate at Jantar Mantar. The petitions seek implementation of a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for designated protest sites and will be heard on Tuesday.
The petitioners told the court that traders had suffered losses of Rs 2,000 crore because of barricades and other restrictions imposed in response to protests. Senior advocate Sacchin Puri, representing the petitioners, said they were seeking implementation of an SOP that had already been put in place by the Supreme Court.
“All we want is implementation of the SOP, of what has already been put in place by the Supreme Court… we are only seeking implementation of our basic rights,” Puri said, according to the report.
Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma initially submitted that the Supreme Court was already dealing with petitions related to the protests. He subsequently did not object to the Delhi High Court hearing the pleas on Tuesday.
The court is also expected to hear a petition by National Students’ Union of India president Vinod Jakhar seeking a probe into the alleged assault of protesters at Jantar Mantar on October 10. Another plea concerning the designated protest sites is also likely to come up for consideration.
The legal action follows a week of protests by the Cockroach Janta Party and Left student groups and parties, along with Opposition leaders, in central and south Delhi. The demonstrations have sought the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
The Delhi Police imposed stringent restrictions after denying permission for protests at Jantar Mantar. Hundreds of people, including students, Opposition leaders and advocates from the Delhi High Court and Supreme Court, were detained after arriving for demonstrations, according to the report.
The petitions have placed two urban systems in direct conflict: the administration of public order during demonstrations and the functioning of commercial areas affected by road restrictions and barricading. The traders’ claim puts an economic value on the disruption, while the lawyers’ petition focuses on the implementation of rules governing protest access and designated sites.
On Monday, Acting Chief Justice Nitin Sambre had declined to list two petitions, citing the pendency of petitions concerning the ongoing protests before the Supreme Court. He indicated that the pleas would be listed on Tuesday. An advocate seeking an earlier hearing argued that the right to free speech had been substantially curtailed and that Jantar Mantar had been closed without an alternative protest site being designated.
The Delhi High Court’s hearing will determine how the petitions are considered alongside the matters pending before the Supreme Court. The court is scheduled to hear the pleas and related concerns over protest sites on Tuesday.
