Why don’t you shut it down? Delhi High Court on protests in Jantar Mantar

The court was hearing a plea by a welfare association for permission to hold a protest at Jantar Mantar.

Delhi Police facial recognition, Supreme Court facial recognition case, Delhi Police biometric surveillance, protesters biometric data, facial recognition protesters, Jantar Mantar protests, Supreme Court right to privacy, K S Puttaswamy judgment, Digital Personal Data Protection Act, Criminal Procedure Identification Act, facial recognition technology India, Indian Express newsThe Supreme Court is already hearing petitions raising the constitutional validity of the use of facial recognition technology and biometric information to profile people during the recent Jantar Mantar protests.(Express File Photo)

The Delhi High Court on Friday asked the government why it was not considering shutting down the Jantar Mantar area as a protest venue, orally remarking that protests “should not happen in the city”.

“Why don’t you shut it down? (The city) cannot be put to ransom unnecessarily by demonstrations,” Justice Mahajan said while hearing a plea by the All India Dalit Christian Rights Protection Committee (AIDCRPC), seeking the Court’s intervention in its pending application for permission to hold a peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar on August 10.

Senior advocate Sanjoy Ghose, who appeared for AIDCRPC, sought a direction to Delhi Police to grant permission for the protest. The court ultimately disposed of the plea, directing the police to take a decision on AIDCRPC’s application.

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Addressing the government, Justice Mahajan said: “Why don’t you shut it down? It should not be inside Delhi… According to me these things (protests) should not happen in the city but it is ultimately the government’s call… Why should this happen in the city when the entire city goes into… Whether it’s the ambulances or otherwise… Why should the city be put to ransom unnecessarily?”

AIDCRPC had sought permission for 75 people to gather at Jantar Mantar for three hours, to press the demand for including Dalit Christians in the Scheduled Castes framework — a category from which they remain excluded, despite a long-standing demand for a constitutional amendment to provide for their inclusion. 

Alternatively, the group asked to be allotted another suitable venue or time slot within Delhi.

According to AIDCRPC, its application to the police, filed on July 9, went unanswered despite repeated follow-ups — no written decision was communicated, and no reasons were given. On August 4, officials orally informed the group that permission would not be granted, again without a formal order or an alternative venue being offered.

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Appearing for the government, Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma objected to the plea. “When this 75 (number of people) becomes 75 thousand we don’t know,” he told the court. 

Sharma pointed out that AIDCRPC had not obtained a No Objection Certificate from local authorities, that the Supreme Court was already examining whether Jantar Mantar should continue as a designated protest site, and that prohibitory orders on public assembly were currently in force, with security forces deployed across the city ahead of Independence Day.

Agreeing with Justice Mahajan’s remarks, ASG Sharma added: “The whole city is held to ransom. But their supposed rights (under freedom of speech) are better than any other right enjoyed by any other person.”

Sohini Ghosh is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express. Previously based in Ahmedabad covering Gujarat, she recently moved to the New Delhi bureau, where she primarily covers legal developments at the Delhi High Court Professional Profile Background: An alumna of the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), she previously worked with ET NOW before joining The Indian Express. Core Beats: Her reporting is currently centered on the Delhi High Court, with a focus on high-profile constitutional disputes, disputes over intellectual property, criminal and civil cases, issues of human rights and regulatory law (especially in the areas of technology and healthcare). Earlier Specialty: In Gujarat, she was known for her rigorous coverage in the beats of crime, law and policy, and social justice issues, including the 2002 riot cases, 2008 serial bomb blast case, 2016 flogging of Dalits in Una, among others. She has extensively covered health in the state, including being part of the team that revealed the segregation of wards at the state’s largest government hospital on lines of faith in April 2020. With Ahmedabad being a UNESCO heritage city, she has widely covered urban development and heritage issues, including the redevelopment of the Sabarmati Ashram Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) Her recent reporting from the Delhi High Court covers major political, constitutional, corporate, and public-interest legal battles: High-Profile Case Coverage She has extensively covered the various legal battles - including for compensation under the aegis of North East Delhi Riots Claims Commission - pertaining to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, as well as 1984 anti-Sikh riots. She has also led coverage at the intersection of technology and governance, and its impact on the citizenry, from, and beyond courtrooms — such as the government’s stakeholder consultations for framing AI-Deepfake policy. Signature Style Sohini is recognized for her sustained reporting from courtrooms and beyond. She specialises in breaking down dense legal arguments to make legalese accessible for readers. Her transition from Gujarat to Delhi has seen her expand her coverage on regulatory, corporate and intellectual property law, while maintaining a strong commitment to human rights and lacuna in the criminal justice system. X (Twitter): @thanda_ghosh ... Read More

 

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