The Delhi High Court declined to halt the CJP protest at Connaught Place. The police must regulate the gathering amid traders' festive-season concerns.
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Newdelhi,Oct 15, 2026 16:38 IST
The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to stop the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and its founder, Abhijeet Dipke, from holding a protest at Connaught Place's Central Park on October 16, news agency Press Trust of India reported.
The court, however, recorded the Delhi Police's assurance that it would take all possible steps to regulate and control the protest.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma was hearing a petition filed by a Connaught Place vendor seeking directions to the police to regulate the protest in line with the law laid down by the Supreme Court.
The petitioner's senior counsel said traders and vendors would be "on the streets" if they lost another weekend to closures caused by a protest in central Delhi during the festive season.
Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma told the court that steps had been taken to control the CJP's activities and assured it that the petitioner's concerns would be addressed. The court recorded the assurance, PTI reported.
When the petitioner's senior counsel urged the court to issue a "specific" direction restraining the CJP, the bench said, "Don't insist. We have passed the order."
The matter came before the bench after it agreed earlier in the day to hear the petition urgently.
While seeking an urgent hearing in the morning, the petitioner's senior counsel said, "In the heart of Connaught Place Central Park, a protest is called. It seems we are being targeted. This is not a site (for protest). They have already started shutting down. This is the Dussehra weekend. This protest has to be stopped."
Dipke has asked "patriots" to gather with the national flag at Central Park in Connaught Place, Delhi's business hub, on Friday. He alleged that CJP members Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka had been "jailed for unfurling the Tricolour".
The call was made on the day Das and Ranka were sent to five days in judicial custody and lodged in Tihar Jail for allegedly violating their peace bonds and entering Jantar Mantar, which is no longer designated as a protest area.
Central Delhi has witnessed large protests by opposition parties, student groups and civil society members since June and July over several issues, including matters related to the functioning of the Election Commission.
The High Court ultimately declined to restrain the CJP's October 16 protest, while accepting the police's assurance that it would regulate and control the activity.
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