Delhi High Court to hear plea on Jantar Mantar protest site closure

The Delhi High Court will hear petitions on Tuesday challenging curbs on demonstrations at Jantar Mantar and seeking an inquiry into disruptions during recent protests in the capital.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Nitin Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma declined to take up the matter on Monday for immediate orders. The judges pointed out that the Supreme Court is already examining the broader regulatory framework around designated demonstration sites and has directed the central government to file affidavits on the issue.

"The Supreme Court is seized of the matter," the bench observed during mentioning. "The Supreme Court has called upon the Union to file affidavits. Once the Supreme Court is looking into it, to what extent can we look into it? Thus, let’s hear it tomorrow."

What the petitions challenge

Two separate pleas were brought before the court following demonstrations staged in central Delhi over the weekend against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The first petition argues that the administration has closed off Jantar Mantar without earmarking an alternative location in New Delhi for public gatherings, contending that the lack of designated space hampers peaceful assembly. Lawyers pressing for an urgent listing argued that civic authorities must specify permitted protest venues in accordance with established rules.

The second petition, moved by the National Students’ Union of India, calls for a court-monitored investigation into scuffles that broke out around Connaught Place and Jantar Mantar on 10 October. The student body alleged that unidentified individuals disrupted gatherings and assaulted people who had assembled in the area.

Demands for an SIT and CCTV preservation

To establish accountability and maintain civil order, the NSUI plea asks the High Court to form a Special Investigation Team headed by an officer not below the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police, sourced from outside the New Delhi district, under the supervision of a Joint Commissioner of Police.

The petition also requests the preservation and submission of all CCTV recordings captured between noon and 6 pm on 10 October. That request spans cameras along the Inner and Outer Circles of Connaught Place, Indira Chowk, Sansad Marg, Janpath, Jantar Mantar Road, the stretch near Khadi Gramodyog Bhavan, and Rajiv Chowk and Janpath metro stations.

Security personnel have maintained robust barricading around Jantar Mantar and adjoining roads over recent days to protect public transit corridors and ensure orderly movement in central Delhi. With the Supreme Court actively overseeing the administrative protocols governing public demonstrations, the High Court will consider the jurisdictional scope of both petitions when hearings open on Tuesday.