PIL filed before Delhi High Court against police surveillance of CJP protest at Jantar Mantar

Former JNU Students' Union president and CPI(M) leader Aishe Ghosh has moved the Delhi High Court alleging continuous and intrusive police surveillance of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protesters and others at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi [Aishe Ghosh v. Union of India & Anr].

The public interest litigation has challenged the Delhi Police acts of persistently photographing and videographing protesters including through a permanent surveillance tower installed at the site of the ongoing sit-in and hunger strike.

The surveillance lacks any disclosed statutory authority or procedural safeguards, the plea has contended.

Ghosh, who has participated in the protest since it began on June 20, has argued that the surveillance is indiscriminate, covering even routine activities like eating and resting and the police have even threatened some student protesters that their photographs would be sent to parents and educational institutions, creating a chilling effect that has deterred participation.

The plea also alleges that women protesters were photographed and filmed while forced to remain at the site in wet clothing during heavy rainfall due to inadequate shelter, calling this a serious intrusion into bodily privacy and dignity.

The petition states that repeated requests for information on the legal basis and safeguards governing the surveillance have gone unanswered. Relying on the Supreme Court's ruling in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India, the plea contends that the measures fail the constitutional tests of legality, necessity, and proportionality, violating the rights to privacy, dignity, free speech, and peaceful assembly under Articles 14, 19 and 21.

The plea has sought a slew of directions, including immediate suspension of the surveillance, disclosure of its legal basis and data-retention protocols, preservation of surveillance records pending adjudication, framing of comprehensive guidelines for policing peaceful assemblies and constitution of an independent committee to examine its impact on the right to dissent.

It further seeks directions for provision of basic civic amenities, including drinking water and sanitation, at the protest site.

The plea has been filed through advocates Subhash Chandran KR and Anirudh K P and is likely to be listed before the High Court on July 16.