A planned protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on October 10 has brought the city’s public transport and traffic arrangements under scrutiny after the Supreme Court directed the Centre and Delhi authorities not to completely disrupt metro services, incoming trains or road movement because of the demonstration.
The protest has been announced by CJP, with a demand for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision issue. Aam Aadmi Party chief and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to initiate what he described as a “misadventure” against demonstrators.
Kejriwal said he had heard that internet services around Jantar Mantar had been suspended and that security had been intensified in the area. He said people feared a large-scale crackdown around the protest venue. These claims were presented by Kejriwal as information he had received, rather than as an officially confirmed decision by the authorities.
He referred to the detention of activist Sonam Wangchuk and to police action during a previous Parliament march, alleging that such measures had increased rather than reduced the scale of protests. Kejriwal said he and his family would go to Jantar Mantar and appealed to people to join what he described as a campaign to protect democracy. He also alleged that votes were being deleted for people who openly did not support the Bharatiya Janata Party and that fake votes were being added. These allegations were not independently established in the report.
AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bhardwaj said party workers were being asked to provide information before the demonstration. The report did not specify the number of expected participants or provide details of any formal permission granted for the gathering.
CJP founder Abhijit Dipke separately criticised the cancellation of a train travelling towards Delhi. Speaking in Mumbai, Dipke said the organisation did not have permission from Delhi Police for the protest but would proceed with its plan. He appealed to people to reach Jantar Mantar and said the protest would continue even if he was detained. Dipke also alleged that the government was afraid of young people and that the country was facing an emergency-like situation. These statements were political allegations and were not accompanied by an official response from the Centre or Delhi Police in the report.
The transport implications were addressed by the Supreme Court on Friday. The court said rail, metro and traffic movement could not be brought to a complete halt because of the protest. It told the Centre and Delhi to avoid using what it described as a method akin to using a hammer to kill a fly. The court directed the central government and Delhi Police to ensure that the proposed demonstration did not result in a complete stoppage of Delhi Metro services or trains entering the capital.
The directions place the protest within a wider urban administration challenge: authorities must secure a designated demonstration site while maintaining access to the city’s transport networks. Jantar Mantar lies within a heavily connected central Delhi area, where restrictions can affect commuters, visitors and people travelling through the capital even when they are not involved in the demonstration.
The immediate developments to monitor are the security arrangements around Jantar Mantar, the movement of trains and metro services, road restrictions, and whether the planned protest proceeds as announced. The report did not provide further details of the Supreme Court hearing or specify the operational instructions issued to individual transport agencies.
