On Monday, Delhi Police formally designated three replacement venues for public demonstrations — Ramlila Ground, Burari Ground, and CBD Ground in Shahdara, each positioned at different points across the city — while simultaneously withdrawing Jantar Mantar in Lutyens' Delhi from its status as an approved protest site. That decision came 48 hours after the Supreme Court urged authorities to explore better-resourced alternatives, and it revisits a constitutional question the court examined in 2018 — namely, where the boundary lies between lawful regulation of public demonstrations and the practical availability of space for political opposition.
Jantar Mantar was originally designed as a site for tracking celestial movements, and the road running alongside it eventually took on a distinct identity of its own. Over time, the location became a channel through which public grievances could be brought to the attention of those holding political power.
Jantar Mantar took on its role as the designated site for public demonstrations in the capital from roughly 1993 onward, following the closure of the Boat Club lawns near India Gate to protest activity in the wake of a farmers' agitation during the 1980s. Its location formed only one element of its appeal to demonstrators.
The site allowed those gathered to rally within view of Parliament and government offices, and the short, contained stretch of road lent itself more readily to crowd management than dispersed marches through the broader city. In its 2018 ruling, the Supreme Court noted that the location gave demonstrators a higher public profile and that relocating them to a more distant spot could weaken the communicative impact of their assemblies.
Among those who gathered at the location over the years were agricultural workers, labour unions, political organisations, students, civil-society bodies, and individuals with personal grievances. Where some assemblies concluded quickly, others extended into prolonged stays, with tents and makeshift structures left standing on site.
Complaints from nearby residents mounted as amplified announcements and loudspeaker equipment continued to appear day after day. A petition lodged by Jantar Mantar Road residents reached the National Green Tribunal in October 2017, with the tribunal taking up the matter on grounds that protests at the site had become persistent, generating noise and air pollution alongside sanitation concerns and interference with the daily routines of those living nearby.
Neighbourhood residents also raised objections to the erection of tents and other temporary structures by demonstrators, with a number of those individuals having stayed at the site for periods stretching from several months to multiple years. An NGT ruling in October 2017 placed obligations on the Delhi government, the New Delhi Municipal Council, and the Delhi Police Commissioner to bring an end to gatherings involving dharnas, protests, public addresses, and loudspeaker use along Jantar Mantar Road.
The order further covered the clearance of makeshift installations and accumulated debris, with demonstrators directed to relocate to Ramlila Maidan. Following the directive, the location was no longer used for demonstrations.
The Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, along with a range of co-appellants — among them bodies representing farming communities and veterans, plus one protester acting in a personal capacity — filed a petition before the Supreme Court contesting the National Green Tribunal's ruling. At the core of their challenge was a claim that Articles 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(b) of the Constitution — provisions protecting expression and the right of people to assemble in public — were violated by the prohibition.
A Supreme Court ruling on 23 July 2018 lifted the across-the-board ban that had previously been in place. Peaceful assembly was affirmed as a foundational right, though the ruling acknowledged that this entitlement may be lawfully curtailed where public order or the rights of other people require it. The bench directed Delhi's police commissioner — working alongside relevant authorities — to draw up a set of rules to govern public gatherings at both Jantar Mantar and the Boat Club area.
The 10 October adjustment was prompted by remarks made by the Supreme Court on 9 October, in which the court urged Delhi to consider a roomier relocation site equipped with toilets, potable water, medical support, and routes for emergency vehicles. Three justices — Chief Justice of India Surya Kant alongside Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana — directed municipal authorities to identify a venue where protests could proceed without disruption to public order or interference with access to essential services.
Disagreement over an event at Jantar Mantar on 10 October reached a point of contention when permission for the gathering was not granted, a development that unfolded alongside wider restrictions on metro services and rail access in the surrounding area. The Cockroach Janata Party and allied organisations had coordinated the action, centred on demands for the departure of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over disputed changes to electoral rolls.
A circular from the Delhi Police Commissioner stated that a panel established by the Ministry of Home Affairs to evaluate alternative venues had underpinned the decision to withdraw the notification for Jantar Mantar. A Delhi Police circular has listed three locations — Ramlila Ground, Burari Ground, and CBD Ground — as approved assembly sites, with updated operating procedures to apply at each.
The circular leaves unaddressed the criteria by which applications will be judged, the conditions attached to any approval, and whether the new locations will meet the standard of facilities the Supreme Court has been seeking. A legal challenge to the de-notification itself now appears possible before the Supreme Court, a bench already handling multiple petitions tied to the protests, the conduct of police during those events, and the restrictions that demonstrators have argued went beyond what was warranted.
