Delhi Police removes Jantar Mantar from list of protest sites; reports differ on context

Delhi Police has removed Jantar Mantar from its list of designated protest sites and named three other grounds, according to reports published on October 12. The reports read for this article agree on what the order says. They differ in how much surrounding context they attach to it, and in whether they carry criticism of the change.

What the order says

Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar signed a standing order that partially modifies an earlier order dated April 28, 2022, according to Business Today, which gives the date of the new order as October 11. DNA India describes it as a circular issued on Monday, October 12. An IANS report carried by Telangana Today identifies the new order as Standing Order No. L&O/48/2026.

Police said the change follows recommendations of a committee formed by the Ministry of Home Affairs to find alternative venues. The three designated sites are Ramlila Ground, Burari Ground and CBD Ground. DNA India, Business Today and IANS describe all three as being in East Delhi. Scroll.in places Ramlila Ground in central Delhi, Burari Ground in north Delhi and CBD Ground in Shahdara, east Delhi.

Police said detailed, revised standard operating procedures for the three sites will be issued separately. Business Today adds that, until then, organizers must follow existing police directions and permission requirements. None of the reports read gives a reason beyond the committee's recommendation.

How the reports frame it

The IANS and ANI (Rising Kashmir) copies lead with the order, the committee and the sites. Both place it alongside the opposition INDIA bloc's march against the Election Commission. In the ANI copy, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal is quoted as saying the party would pursue a legal challenge.

Scroll.in sets the order against the weeks of protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, which it says were led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), opposition parties and student groups who want him to resign over alleged voter roll irregularities. It also reports that the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, asked the Union government on the preceding Friday to consider an alternative venue, and that Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said authorities would consider a location other than Jantar Mantar.

DNA India and Business Today carry the reaction of CJP figures. DNA India reports that CJP chief spokesperson Saurav Das said the party had told police of a planned peaceful protest and that the intimation was accepted, but that no date was given. It reports that party founder Abhijeet Dipke wrote on X that the country would now become a Jantar Mantar. Business Today quotes his post as "Ab poora desh Jantar Mantar banega" and reports that he said the site had already been turned into a war zone. These are the speakers' characterizations. None of the reports read includes a government or police response to them.

DNA India also reports that a plea challenging the closure of Jantar Mantar as a protest site was listed for Tuesday before a bench of Acting Chief Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma, where a lawyer argued that peaceful protest was being suppressed because no alternative site had been designated. The report says the bench noted that the Supreme Court was also examining the issue.