Jantar Mantar denotification as protest site based on Supreme Court orders: Delhi Police tells high court

The Delhi Police on Tuesday told the Delhi High Court that they denotified Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site in the Capital following a Supreme Court order earlier this month that nudged authorities to consider alternative, better-equipped spaces where residents could exercise their democratic rights without hindering public safety.

“We denotified Jantar Mantar after Supreme Court’s order dated October 9,” the Delhi Police told the single-judge bench of justice Amit Mahajan.

The submission was made while the court was hearing a petition filed last week by Indian Youth Congress (IYC) president Uday Bhanu Chib against Delhi Police’s denial of permission for a protest at Jantar Mantar.

Delhi Police was represented by additional solicitor general Chetan Sharma and standing counsels Ashish Dixit and Amit Tiwari.

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The Supreme Court on October 9 called for a rethink of Delhi’s decades-old arrangement of holding demonstrations at Jantar Mantar, recording that the Delhi Police commissioner and other competent authorities would consider designating an alternative venue with better facilities for peaceful protesters.

A bench comprising chief justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said the national capital needed a larger, better-equipped space where citizens could exercise their democratic right to protest without compromising public safety, access to emergency services or the interests of other residents. “It is high time that some other place with amenities for peaceful protestors need to be identified and designated,” the bench said in its order.

Delhi Police on Monday denotified Jantar Mantar as a protest site, ending its 33-year-long designation as one of the country’s demonstration hubs. They designated three alternative venues for protests: Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground in north Delhi, and CBD Ground in east Delhi.

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The order, titled “Guidelines for Holding Protests or Demonstrations in Delhi”, said the Union ministry of home affairs constituted a committee to “examine alternative proper venues for citizen’s right for organising protest demonstrations in place of the existing ‘designated site’”.

“Based on the committee’s recommendations, Jantar Mantar as a protest venue has been de-notified,” the order said, adding that three new venues were designated for organising protests and demonstrations.

On Tuesday, Chib’s lawyer Siddharth Luthra urged the court to issue notice in the prayers to reconsider its request by undertaking a fresh, reasoned and individualised assessment. With regard to the prayer against Delhi Police’s October 1 denial to hold a protest at Jantar Mantar, the senior counsel sought time to amend the prayer in view of Monday’s notification.

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The law officer opposed notice being issued, saying the petition was infructuous in view of Monday’s notification. He said that all the prayers emanated from Chib’s prayer against the denial.

However, the bench issued notice on the reconsideration prayer and will now hear the case on November 17.