The Supreme Court on Friday asked the organisers of the proposed October 10 protests in Delhi to appear before it at 2pm, as it sought to balance the right to peaceful assembly against the disruption of essential services for millions of residents amid sweeping security restrictions imposed ahead of the demonstrations.
The bench, however, stressed that the right to protest had to be exercised within the framework of applicable laws and permissions. At the same time, the court emphasised that the rights of demonstrators could not be considered in isolation from those of ordinary residents. The bench made clear that it was not questioning the fundamental right to protest but was seeking a workable balance between that right and the interests of the much larger population affected by restrictions on transport and other public services. Sibal agreed to return at 2pm with further details.
“You cannot shut down an entire city because you are incapable of handling a peaceful protest,” Sankaranarayanan told the bench. It said citizens could assert their right to protest even if a gathering was not authorised, but would then be liable to face prosecution in accordance with law. “There is a citizenry before us who press for larger rights but the group that wants to protest is not before us,” observed the bench, explaining why it wanted the organisers to provide concrete details of the planned gathering.
A bench, comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, hearing concerns over the closure of 57 metro stations and other curbs in the national capital, said it needed details of the proposed gathering, including the expected number of participants, to determine whether the protest could be regulated without imposing disproportionate hardship on the public. “We can injunct them and at the same time, we can injunct the protest. Will it be a fair?” asked the bench, underlining the need to hear both sides before deciding on the competing claims.
