Delhi Police told the Delhi High Court that Jantar Mantar has been denotified as a protest site. The move shifts the case towards alternative venues and wider questions on limits to peaceful assembly.
Image used for representational purposes only
Newdelhi,Oct 13, 2026 20:14 IST
Delhi Police told the Delhi High Court on Tuesday that Jantar Mantar has been denotified as a designated protest site pursuant to directions of the Supreme Court. The submission came during the hearing of a plea by the Indian Youth Congress seeking permission to hold a protest there against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
While the police said the plea had become infructuous after it designated Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground and CBD Ground as the new protest sites, the court issued notice to the authorities on the prayer for reconsideration of the request. The court also sought the police's response on the other challenges raised in the petition and listed the matter for further hearing in November.
Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, appearing before Justice Amit Mahajan, said, 'The entire petition is about peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar. All other prayers flow from it. Today, we have denotified Jantar Mantar pursuant to orders of the Supreme Court.' He also told the court that a plea challenging the denotification of Jantar Mantar as a protest site has already been filed in the apex court.
Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, appearing for the petitioner, said the plea would be amended in view of the latest development and urged the court to seek the police's stand on the remaining prayers. The high court then issued notice to the police on the prayers against 'automatic, mechanical, unguided or disproportionate prohibition of peaceful assembly without an individualised assessment and consideration of less restrictive regulatory policy' and on the requirement of applying for a protest at least 10 days before the proposed date.
On October 9, the Supreme Court had asked the government to consider designating an alternative venue to Jantar Mantar for peaceful protests in the national capital. The top court had stressed the need for a site with basic amenities for demonstrators while hearing a plea challenging proposed restrictions on metro stations and the cancellation of trains arriving in Delhi in view of a protest called by the Cockroach Janta Party against CEC Kumar.
The Indian Youth Congress, through its national president Uday Bhanu Chib, had moved the high court earlier this month against Delhi Police's October 1 decision refusing permission for the protest at Jantar Mantar. The Congress youth wing is seeking Kumar's resignation over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision exercise.
The petition said the case raises the issue of how the fundamental rights under Articles 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(b) of the Constitution can be regulated by police authorities while considering an application for a peaceful democratic demonstration at Jantar Mantar. It said, 'The proposed demonstration arises out of concerns regarding transparency, accountability and functioning of constitutional institutions, and was proposed as a peaceful exercise of the petitioner's right to freedom of speech and expression and the right to assemble peacefully and without arms.'
The plea also said the IYC had applied to Delhi Police on September 25 to hold a peaceful demonstration of around 100 to 150 people from October 1 to October 25, and had undertaken to comply with lawful conditions on security, traffic, discipline and public order. The high court is now examining its challenge after the police said Jantar Mantar has ceased to be a notified protest site.
- Ends