The Delhi High Court is hearing a plea by Indian Youth Congress president Uday Bhanu Chib challenging the denial of permission for a protest at Jantar Mantar, after Delhi Police denotified the central Delhi location as a designated protest site and named three alternative venues.
The petition concerns the Indian Youth Congress’s proposed protest over the Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, scheduled from October 1 to 25. The organisation had applied on September 25 to hold a peaceful demonstration at Jantar Mantar between 10 am and 12 pm, with an expected participation of around 100 to 150 people.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police, New Delhi, rejected the application on October 1. The reasons cited included the law-and-order situation in New Delhi district, traffic considerations and guidelines for protests at Jantar Mantar and the Central Vista area. Police also said the guidelines did not permit an organiser to hold a dharna or demonstration for more than one continuous day.
The police communication further referred to inputs about open calls by various organisations for mass gatherings and protests in New Delhi district. Chib’s plea argues that the police cannot use regulatory powers to create an unstructured discretion to deny peaceful democratic assembly without a clear legal basis.
The case was taken up briefly by Justice Amit Mahajan on Monday. The Centre sought an adjournment to obtain instructions and requested that the matter be listed a day later. Hours after the hearing, Delhi Police declared that Jantar Mantar was no longer a designated protest site. Burauri Ground, Ramlila Ground and CBD Ground were designated instead.
On Tuesday, Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, appearing for the government, told the court that the petition had become “infructuous” because Jantar Mantar had been removed from the list of designated protest sites. Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, appearing for Chib, opposed that position and said the plea remained relevant. He alleged that the denotification could amount to “subterfuge” and said the petition would be amended while maintaining that the matter required judicial consideration.
The court passed over the matter and was scheduled to take it up later in the day, with Luthra expected to appear physically to argue the case. The immediate issue before the court is whether the change in Jantar Mantar’s designation affects the pending challenge to the earlier denial of permission and how the petition should proceed after the government’s administrative decision.
