The Supreme Court on Monday sought the government’s reply on a plea asking why the heavily-fortified and VIP areas of central Delhi cannot be thrown open for peaceful protests.
The petition, which was filed by the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sanghatan through its founder Aruna Roy, stated that Delhi was the “centre of power” and had seen it all — from the Mahatma’s Satyagraha movement against British rule to the anti-Emergency rallies and cry for justice for Nirbhaya.
A Bench of Justices A. K. Sikri and Ashok Bhushan heard the Sanghatan’s petition challenging the “arbitrary and repeated imposition of Section 144 of the CrPC by the Delhi Police, by which, virtually, the entire central Delhi area is declared a prohibited zone for holding any public meeting, dharna or peaceful protest”.
‘Free speech curtailed’
“With the further ban on protests at Jantar Mantar following the National Green Tribunal order, citizens are being pushed away from places where their protests had more visibility and were near to Parliament and other government offices,” the petition said.
The PIL has sought for the blanket ban on assembly in central Delhi area to be declared as illegal. “The right to assemble peacefully and protest is a fundamental aspect of free speech in a democracy,” said advocate Prashant Bhushan, who is representing the petitioner.
The petition delved into the history of protests held in the heart of Delhi. Till the 1980s, the plea stated, protesters had unfettered access to the Boat Club lawns near India Gate along the arterial Rajpath. However, from 1993 till recently, the only place where protests were allowed was Jantar Mantar.
In 2010, a writ petition was filed in the Delhi High Court by a member of the Bhopal Gas Pidit Mahaila Stationary Karamchari Sangh member against the repeated orders of the Delhi Police to ban dharnas or protests in central Delhi.
In May 2011, the High Court had disposed of the petition after the police stated in an affidavit that the “continuous prohibition in New Delhi district has been discontinued”.
