The Delhi High Court will hear on October 16 a plea seeking peaceful protests at Jantar Mantar. The bench asked for the related Supreme Court petition to avoid passing conflicting orders.
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Newdelhi,Oct 13, 2026 17:18 IST
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday listed for hearing on October 16 a public interest litigation seeking directions to allow peaceful protests at Jantar Mantar and to declare the right to peaceful protest as part of free speech. The court asked the petitioner to place on record a copy of a similar plea pending before the Supreme Court.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma said it did not want to pass an order that could conflict with proceedings in the top court. Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma told the court that the Supreme Court has deferred hearing on protest-related petitions till October 15.
"We want to have a copy of the Supreme Court petition. We don't want to pass contradictory orders," the bench said. The plea, filed by Anshikha Tripathi, said there was a "grave concern" over the number of people who were house arrested. It sought directions to the state to allow peaceful protests in and around Jantar Mantar, earmark different places for agitations, order an SIT probe into the alleged atrocities on peaceful protesters, and examine the issue of house arrests.
The petition also challenged the prohibitory orders, the internet shutdown in central Delhi, and what it called the continued unnecessary and disproportionate closure of metro stations and railway restrictions. It said the State's duty to maintain public order must be carried out in line with the democratic value of peaceful dissent and the constitutional bar on arbitrary restrictions on fundamental rights.
The developments came after hundreds of people took to the streets in central Delhi on October 10 and 11 after the Cockroach Janta Party called a protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
The high court also adjourned to November another PIL filed by National Students' Union of India president Vinod Jakhar, who sought a fair, independent and time-bound probe into a series of assaults allegedly committed in broad daylight on October 10 on ordinary protesters. Sharma objected to the maintainability of the PIL, saying it had been filed in violation of the PIL rules. The court allowed the Centre three weeks to file its preliminary objections.
Jakhar's counsel asked the court in the meantime to direct preservation of the relevant CCTV footage. His PIL claimed there were videos of "anti-social elements" in civil dress manhandling and beating peaceful protesters. It argued that if such incidents were not examined, there would be a chilling effect on the exercise of the freedoms of speech and expression, peaceful assembly without arms, and movement across the country. The plea sought directions to preserve and hand over CCTV footage from October 10, between 12 noon and 6 pm, from cameras at the Inner and Outer Circle of Connaught Place, Indira Chowk, the stretch outside Khadi Gramodyog Bhavan, Sansad Marg, Janpath and Jantar Mantar Road, and at the Rajiv Chowk, Janpath, Patel 22 Chowk and Barakhamba Road Metro stations.
Since these petitions were filed, Jantar Mantar has been denotified as a designated protest site. On October 11, Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar issued a standing order naming Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground and CBD Ground as the new designated sites for protests and demonstrations.
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