With INDIA bloc leaders marching to Jantar Mantar seeking CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s removal, the Delhi Police on Wednesday reiterated that permission to protest at the site has to be sought 10 days in advance and gatherings not exceeding 1,000 people.
The clarification comes amid heightened security in central Delhi, with the INDIA bloc holding a protest demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) planning a protest at Jantar Mantar on October 10.
Under the Delhi Police’s standing order issued in compliance with a 2018 Supreme Court judgment in Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan vs Union of India, protests, demonstrations and sit-ins at Jantar Mantar require prior permission from the competent authority.
The police guidelines prescribe the 18th-century obseravatory for gatherings of up to 1,000 people, while larger protests are to be shifted to other designated sites.
Applications for permission are required to be submitted to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, New Delhi District, at least 10 days before the proposed event.
The guidelines also prohibit demonstrations in the Central Vista area, including India Gate, C-Hexagon, Man Singh Road, Janpath, Rajpath and adjoining lawns.
For larger gatherings, the Delhi Police has designated Ramlila Maidan for protests involving between 1,000 and 50,000 people, while gatherings exceeding 50,000 are to be held at Burari.
The apex court, in its July 2018 judgment, had held that peaceful protest is a fundamental right but also directed that a mechanism be put in place to regulate demonstrations and balance the rights of protesters with public order and the interests of residents.
The issue has assumed significance as the INDIA bloc MPs and supporters marched towards Jantar Mantar on Wednesday, a day after hundreds of opposition leaders and workers were detained following their march to the Election Commission and an over eight-hour sit-in inside Akashvani Bhawan.
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The opposition has accused Kumar of facilitating the deletion of lakhs of names from electoral rolls through the SIR exercise and has been demanding his resignation.
The CJP has formally intimated Delhi Police about its proposed October 10 protest at Jantar Mantar, with its co-convenor Saurav Das submitting an intimation letter at the Parliament Street police station. The outfit has said thousands of people are expected to participate.
The police restrictions come against the backdrop of several recent attempts by political parties and student organisations to mobilise at Jantar Mantar over the SIR issue. Protesters had also attempted to reach the site on earlier occasions amid heavy barricading and deployment of security personnel, with several of them being detained.
Delhi Police has maintained that Jantar Mantar remains an authorised site for peaceful and approved demonstrations, but stressed that such protests are subject to prior permission and the prescribed crowd limit.
