Delhi High Court declines plea against CJP’s October 16 protest at Connaught Place

The Delhi High Court on Thursday (October 15, 2026) refused to restrain the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and its founder Abhijeet Dipke from holding a protest at Connaught Place’s Central Park on October 16, even as it took on record the police’s assurance that all possible steps would be taken to regulate and control protesters.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma heard a plea by a Connaught Place vendor seeking directions to the police to regulate the protest.

The petitioner’s counsel submitted that traders and vendors would be left “on the streets” if another weekend is lost to closures due to protests in central Delhi during the festive season.

On Wednesday (October 14, 2026) Mr. Dipke called for protesters to gather at Central Park on October 16 with the national flag to highlight the arrest of CJP members Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka who he alleged had been “jailed for unfurling the tricolour”.

Mr. Das and Mr. Ranka were sent to five-days’ judicial custody for allegedly violating their peace bonds and trespassing into Jantar Mantar, which has been denotified as a protest area.

Keep track | Anti-CEC protest key highlights - October 15, 2026

Crowd control

During the hearing on Thursday (October 15, 2026), Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma said steps had been taken to control the CJP’s activities and assured the court that the petitioner’s concerns would be addressed.

After the petitioner’s counsel urged the court to pass a “specific” direction restraining the CJP so a contempt plea could be filed in case of any violation, the bench said, “We have passed the order. Don’t insist”.

Senior advocate Sachhin Puri, appearing for a licensed street vendor who sells readymade garments at Palika Bazar, argued that Connaught Place was not a designated protest site, and any agitation in the Central Park there would affect business.

“A protest is called in the heart of Connaught Place — Central Park. It feels like we are being targeted. This is not a site (for protest). They have already started shutting the place down. Being the Dussehra weekend, this protest has to be stopped,” the petitioner’s counsel argued when the case was raised in the morning.

The Supreme Court has previously ruled in the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, and Shaheen Bagh cases that traffic, office gates, and arterial roads cannot be blocked due to protests.