CEC Gyanesh Kumar: Delhi Police halt unapproved march as court backs peace bonds

Security personnel in central Delhi halted an unauthorised march towards the Election Commission of India headquarters on Friday, enforcing restrictions to maintain public order and traffic flow around the capital's administrative core.

A gathering organised under the banner of People Against SIR had assembled near Gol Dak Khana and Bangla Sahib Gurdwara before attempting to move along Ashoka Road. Demonstrators were demanding the rollback of the special intensive revision of electoral rolls and calling for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Police deployed barricades and invoked prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, preventing the procession from reaching Nirvachan Sadan.

Differing estimates on detentions

Officers briefly held several demonstrators after repeated dispersal orders were ignored. Official accounts and organiser estimates diverged regarding the scale of the detentions.

At least one first information report was lodged against participants for violating Section 163 prohibitory measures.

ECI decisions backed by unanimity and legal oversight

The agitation emerged after claims circulated regarding internal dissent within the poll body over the special voter list revision. The Election Commission of India has firmly dismissed those assertions, stating that all major institutional choices, including the special intensive revision exercise, were made unanimously by the full commission.

Legal oversight in the capital simultaneously affirmed the preventive measures taken by authorities. The Delhi High Court dismissed a plea from All India Students' Association president Neha Bora, who had challenged a police notice requiring the execution of a peace bond. Justice Subramonium Prasad ruled that the Special Executive Magistrate acted on sufficient legal material rather than hearsay when issuing the requirement.

Meanwhile, Cockroach Janta Party leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka appeared before New Delhi Special Executive Magistrate Ritu Raj at the Mandir Marg police station in a peace bond proceeding. The two had secured relief earlier in the week on ₹50,000 personal and surety bonds after being held for trespassing at the de-notified Jantar Mantar site, giving undertakings to maintain public order. The magistrate directed Das to submit lease documentation proving his Delhi residence by 17 November.

Commercial bodies seek stability ahead of festival season

While political activists such as Yogendra Yadav and economist Parakala Prabhakar called for a human chain at Hyderabad's Tank Bund on Saturday, business organisations in Delhi urged caution over protest disruptions.

The Chamber of Trade and Industry wrote to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi requesting that the opposition INDIA bloc postpone a planned 1 November rally at Ramlila Maidan until after Diwali. CTI chairman Brijesh Goyal noted that wholesale and retail markets around the venue depend heavily on peak seasonal footfall, generating an estimated ₹25,000 crore in festive trade that public disruptions would directly jeopardise.