The Delhi Police has denotified Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site and named three other locations for demonstrations, changing the arrangements for public protests in the national capital amid heightened security measures.
In a standing order issued on October 11, Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar designated Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground and CBD Ground in east Delhi as the new protest sites. The order followed calls for protests at Jantar Mantar, according to the report.
Jantar Mantar has historically served as a central location for demonstrations in Delhi because of its proximity to key government offices and its visibility within the capital’s public and political landscape. The police decision means that organisers seeking to hold demonstrations will now have to use the three locations specified in the standing order.
The move drew criticism from the Congress. Jairam Ramesh, the party’s general secretary in charge of communications, alleged that the decision reflected “extreme panic” within the Prime Minister and Home Minister’s offices. He said the historic protest site would no longer be a place where democracy received a “daily booster dose”.
In remarks posted on X, Ramesh also alleged that peaceful public protests had been dealt with harshly in recent days. He said, “Democracy no longer matters for them. It is all a matter of Demokursi.” The comments were directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The Delhi Police’s order places the change within the city’s wider security management framework. The report said heightened security arrangements were in place in the national capital following calls for protests at Jantar Mantar, although it did not provide further details about the nature, organisers or expected scale of those demonstrations.
The change affects how public demonstrations are managed in Delhi, where decisions on designated protest locations determine where groups can assemble and how police can regulate access, movement and security around major public spaces. The three locations named in the order are spread across different parts of the city, including Ramlila Maidan, Burari and east Delhi’s CBD Ground.
The standing order issued by the Delhi Police Commissioner is the immediate administrative basis for the change. The report did not specify whether the denotification is temporary or permanent, or whether additional conditions have been imposed on protests at the newly designated venues.
