Fresh chaos gripped New Delhi district on Sunday as several groups protested against the Election Commission and police continued their crackdown, apprehending people, including journalists, despite a Supreme Court order against illegal detentions.
Four former chief ministers and the leaders of the CJP were among those detained as police cracked down on students, lawyers and politicians, successfully refusing passage to Jantar Mantar. Yet, sporadic protests bubbled up at different points of the city throughout the day, even as police rushed to smother the stirs. The court also said the police cannot detain such peaceful protesters beyond the area covered by a prohibitory order under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). Authorities had imposed restrictions across the Capital since Friday, with thousands of police on the streets, internet services suspended near Jantar Mantar, cancellation of many trains to Delhi and the controversial closure of 45 Metro stations – the largest this year.
The police action came despite the top court’s order earlier in the day that peaceful, unarmed protesters cannot be detained except in accordance with the “procedure established by law”. Police started detaining people going to the protest – the authorities had earlier said they denied permission for the stir – by 1am on Saturday, laying spike strips on arterial roads, erecting thousands of yellow barricades that choked traffic, and putting up loudspeakers that blared prerecorded police warnings against unlawful gatherings.
