The Supreme Court on Wednesday registered a petition challenging the de-notification of the iconic Jantar Mantar premises as a designated site of protest in the national capital.
Rendering Jantar Mantar inaccessible will push dissent “out of sight and out of mind”, the plea said, noting that a protest carried out far from the earshot of ordinary citizens loses much of its practical impact.
It has arraigned the Union government and the Delhi Police Commissioner as respondents. As per a Standing Order on Guidelines For Holding Protests or Demonstrations in Delhi issued by Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar, the Ramlila Maidan, Burari ground in north Delhi, and CBD ground in east Delhi have been designated as new protest venues. ALSO WATCH CJP leaders sent to judicial custody; Dipke challenges PM Modi Ms. Chief Justice of India Surya Kant had remarked that central Delhi did not have any washroom, medical, and drinking water facilities.
The petition, which was filed by Swaty Singh through advocate Akanksha Mehra, was successfully registered and numbered on Wednesday (October 14, 2026). Singh said the de-notification violated a 2018 Supreme Court judgment in Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan versus Union of India , which had struck down a complete and blanket ban on public demonstrations and protests at Jantar Mantar, ruling that an absolute prohibition violated the fundamental right to peaceful assembly under Article 19(1)(b) of the Constitution. However, the de-notification of Jantar Mantar seemed to have germinated during an October 9 hearing in the Supreme Court of petitions challenging the clampdown imposed on Delhi ahead of the youth protests on October 10. On October 9, both the court and the government had reasoned that central Delhi was too cramped for protests.
The authorities have found three alternative sites, but the petition said they are located on the outskirts of the national capital, far away from the corridors of power, the Parliament, Supreme Court, Ministries, and public offices of central Delhi.
