Delhi Police has removed Jantar Mantar from the list of designated protest sites and named Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground and CBD Ground as the three venues where demonstrations will now be held. The decision was announced on Monday after recommendations from a committee constituted by the Union Home Ministry.
The new venues are spread across Delhi and place protests farther from the central administrative area around Parliament. Ramlila Maidan in Central Delhi is about three kilometres from Parliament, while Burari Ground in northwest Delhi is around 16 kilometres away and CBD Ground in East Delhi is nearly 26 kilometres away, according to the report.
Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar announced the change in an X post. The order also revised the standard protocol for organising protests, with detailed guidelines on seeking permission at the three grounds to be issued separately.
The decision comes amid demands by opposition and civil society groups to hold a protest at Jantar Mantar over alleged irregularities linked to the Special Intensive Revision and calls for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign. The groups named in the report include the Congress-led INDIA bloc, the Cockroach Janta Party and the All India Students’ Association.
A proposed march towards Jantar Mantar over the weekend was met with heavy police deployment, barricading of roads and temporary restrictions affecting mobile internet services and Metro stations, according to the report. More than 7,500 people were detained, while protest organisers alleged that police used excessive force, including against women. These allegations were reported as claims by the protesting groups and were not independently established in the material supplied.
The shift changes the geography of public assembly in the capital. Jantar Mantar has traditionally offered protesters proximity to Parliament and other central government institutions, while the three newly designated grounds are distributed across different parts of the city. The locations therefore have different implications for travel, crowd movement, policing and the visibility of demonstrations.
Ramlila Maidan has previously hosted major political rallies and public movements, including Jayaprakash Narayan’s rally in 1975 and the anti-corruption movement led by Anna Hazare in 2011. Burari Ground and CBD Ground are farther from the central government district and are expected to serve as designated venues under the revised arrangements.
The Cockroach Janta Party criticised the decision, calling it arbitrary and an assault on the right to protest and peaceful assembly. Co-convenor Saurav Das questioned whether the Union Home Ministry had consulted affected organisations and stakeholders before changing the status of Jantar Mantar.
Party leaders had met Delhi Police earlier on Monday to seek permission for a protest at Jantar Mantar and were told that applications should be made at least 10 days in advance, according to the report. The group said it had given the police 24 hours to communicate a decision on its request, but the subsequent police order has placed Jantar Mantar outside the designated protest arrangement. Revised procedures for obtaining permission at the three replacement venues are expected to be issued separately.
