Photo: Alnitak-Alnilam-Mintaka / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Delhi Police have de-notified Jantar Mantar as the capital’s designated site for protests and demonstrations and named three new venues in its place: Ramlila Ground, Burari Ground and CBD Ground in east Delhi. The change, made public on Monday, comes through a standing order signed by Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar and dated October 11.
The order says the Ministry of Home Affairs had set up a committee to look for suitable alternative venues for citizens’ right to protest in place of the existing designated site, and that Jantar Mantar was dropped on that panel’s recommendation. Detailed, revised standard operating procedures (SOPs) for holding protests at the three new grounds will be issued separately. The order describes itself as a partial modification of an earlier standing order from April 2022.
Why the timing matters
The decision lands in the middle of a tense stand-off in central Delhi. The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) called protests on October 10 and 11 against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, and police used barricades and heavy deployment to stop demonstrators from reaching Jantar Mantar.
Police had refused permission for the October 10 protest, citing short notice, the rule that applications be filed at least 10 days in advance, non-compliance with an undertaking given at an earlier protest, and concerns over law and order and traffic.
On Monday morning, CJP leaders including Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka went to the Parliament Street police station under tight security to ask for a fresh date for a protest at Jantar Mantar. They gave police 24 hours to respond, and said the party would announce its own protest call if no date was given.
Peaceful protest is a right, a constitutional right, and people are already exercising it.
Saurav Das, CJP chief spokesperson
Court hearings on Tuesday
Earlier on Monday, the Delhi High Court declined to take up urgently a plea against the closure of Jantar Mantar for protests and listed it for Tuesday, October 13. A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma noted that the Supreme Court was already examining the issue and had asked the Centre to file affidavits. The High Court will also hear a separate petition alleging that outsiders entered last weekend’s protest and harassed demonstrators.
Seeking an early hearing, the petitioner’s lawyer argued that peaceful protests were being suppressed because the authorities had not earmarked any other place to hold them. The new order now names alternative sites, but the rules for using them have not yet been published. The Supreme Court is also due to hear pleas on Tuesday over attacks on protesters and lawyers, according to reports.
What happens next
Until the revised SOPs are issued, it is not clear how and when groups can apply to use Ramlila Ground, Burari Ground or CBD Ground. The CJP’s 24-hour deadline to the police runs out on Tuesday, the same day both courts take up petitions linked to the protests.
