The Supreme Court directed the Centre and Delhi Police to lift blanket restrictions on metro and railway services ahead of CJP’s protests in Delhi on Saturday. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) revised its order of closure of 57 metro stations following a rap from the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court made it clear that security measures cannot amount to a complete prohibition on public transport and inconvenience millions of ordinary residents. The cancellations affected long-distance services, including the Howrah-New Delhi and Sealdah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express trains. Indian Railways cancelled mail and express trains scheduled to arrive at or depart from New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin stations between 4 am and 2 pm on October 10, citing anticipated severe road congestion around the stations.
“You will not use a hammer to kill a fly,” remarked the court, explaining that the authorities must adopt measures commensurate with the situation rather than impose sweeping restrictions. The court was told that railway services had also been disrupted ahead of the demonstration.
