Lawyer moves Supreme Court challenging de-notification of Jantar Mantar as protest site

A petition has been filed before the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi police order dated October 11 by which Jantar Mantar was de-notified as a designated protest site in Delhi and three alternative venues were notified in its place.

The matter is likely to be listed for hearing tomorrow.

Delhi Police de-notified Jantar Mantar as a designated protest venue. Instead, Ramlila Ground, Burari Ground and CBD Ground, East Delhi have been designated as new venues for holding protests.

A standing order to this effect was issued by Delhi Commissioner of Police Anurag Kumar dated October 11.

According to the order, the decision was taken in line with the recommendations of a committee constituted by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to examine alternate venues for citizens' protests and demonstrations.

The Delhi Police also justified this decision before the High Court in a case filed by the Indian Youth Congress.

In that case, the police said that the decision was taken based on the Supreme Court's order of October 9.

The petition before the Supreme Court, filed by advocate Swaty Singh, contends that the move violates the fundamental rights to freedom of speech and expression and to assemble peacefully under Articles 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(b) of the Constitution.

While the State can regulate these rights in the interest of public order, the petition states that such regulation cannot operate as a prohibition or render the exercise of these rights illusory.

It further argues that the location of a protest site is central to the protests.

"The right to protest is not merely a right to assemble at a designated physical space; it is a right to communicate grievances, express dissent and draw the attention of the public authorities and society at large towards matters requiring redressal," the petition states.

According to the plea, proximity to the concerned institutions, accessibility to the public and visibility to the intended audience directly affect a protest's effectiveness.

As per the plea,

"Relocating protests to distant or outlying areas of Delhi, particularly where such relocation materially increases the burden of participation and distances demonstrators from the authorities to whom their grievances are addressed, may substantially diminish the communicative purpose of peaceful assembly."

Invoking the principle of "out of sight, out of mind", the petition says a protest detached from its intended audience may lose much of its practical impact.

As regards the October 9 order of the Supreme Court which was used by the Delhi Police to justify its decision, the plea has stated that suitability of a protest site cannot be established merely by naming Ramlila Ground, Burari Ground and CBD Ground, East Delhi, without examining their accessibility, availability, location, affordability and practical usability.

"The question is not merely whether alternative sites have been notified, but whether the decision taken ensures that citizens can meaningfully exercise their fundamental rights when the need to protest arises," the plea states.

The plea also places reliance on the Supreme Court's 2018 judgment in Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan v. Union of India in which the top court had held that a complete ban on protests at Jantar Mantar and the Boat Club was impermissible.

The petition states that the decision to de-notify Jantar Mantar is contrary to that judgment.

It also assails the standing order as arbitrary and procedurally deficient. The petition points out that the order de-notifies Jantar Mantar with immediate administrative effect while leaving the detailed and revised SOP for the three newly designated venues to be issued separately.

As a result, the standing order alters the existing arrangement without itself setting out a complete mechanism governing access to the new venues, the plea says.

The petition was filed through advocates Lakshay Saini and Tushar Gupta. The matter will be argued by Senior Advocates Mukta Gupta and Nandita Rao.

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