Supreme Court calls for guidelines on right to protest to prevent law and order disruptions
The bench was hearing a plea against the ‘arbitrary and unreasonable restriction’ on agitations in parts of Central Delhi.
The Supreme Court on Monday said that guidelines were needed to ensure that citizens’ right to protest did not cause law and order problems. The court issued a notice to the Centre and the Delhi Police on a petition seeking a reversal of repeated bans on protests in Central Delhi and New Delhi.
The bench of Justice AK Sikri and Justice Ashok Bhushan said it was important to have guidelines to ensure that neither the fundamental right to protest was violated, nor any inconvenience was caused to the public, PTI reported.
The petition, filed by a non-profit, said that enforcing Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code was an “arbitrary and unreasonable restriction” on the right to hold peaceful agitations. Section 144 prohibits the assembly of four or more people at a place.
“Repeated imposition” of Section 144 by the Delhi Police since January this year virtually prohibited protests in the entire Central Delhi area, the plea said, adding that the police passed the same orders repeatedly as the restriction is valid for at most two months.
On October 5, the National Green Tribunal had asked the Delhi government to stop all protests at Jantar Mantar, which is located at the centre of the Capital city. The green panel said people living around the area had the right to live peacefully and comfortably in an atmosphere free from pollution.
