Kiran Bedi, a retired officer from the Indian Police Service, voiced support for withdrawing Jantar Mantar's designated status as a demonstration venue, pointing to the area's constrained lanes and its closeness to buildings and offices deemed sensitive as reasons the site was unsuitable for public gatherings.

Writing on X, Bedi put forward the view that cities require dedicated venues for public protest, and contended that the administration had made a poor choice in selecting Jantar Mantar while also taking too long to revisit that decision.

The comments followed a Delhi Police directive dated 11 October designating Ramlila Maidan, Burari Maidan, and CBD Ground in Shahdara as alternative locations for demonstrations. In a written statement, she drew on her policing career in Delhi to trace how gathering points for public protest had moved over the decades — from the vicinity of the Prime Minister's residence and Teen Murti Marg, which at the time served as Mrs Gandhi's official home, through Lutyens' Delhi in the early 1970s, then to India Gate in the 1980s, and eventually to Jantar Mantar — and went on to note that any city requires an open space set aside for democratic expression, a need that tends to go unaddressed even as such expression, commonly understood as protest, remains a civic reality.

Bedi argued that Jantar Mantar's narrow pathways, proximity to government buildings, and its position alongside the commercial activity of Connaught Place made it poorly suited to hosting public demonstrations, and characterised the site selection as a misjudgement that had persisted across successive administrations. In her written remarks, she noted that the outcomes were plain to observe.

Bedi noted that the Union home ministry had designated Ramlila Maidan and other venues as protest sites, and that the transition to those locations may warrant a court order to take effect. She also called for authorities to spell out a concrete security and operational framework for Ramlila Maidan before any permissions are granted.

In July, Bedi put forward a position that demonstrations should be confined to Ramlila Ground, pointing to national security as a reason — a stance she linked to the gatherings over NEET at Jantar Mantar and to the preservation of public areas including Connaught Place. In a conversation with a news agency, she put forward the view that protest authorisations ought to be confined to Ramlila Ground.

Bedi put forward the position that protest activity ought to be routed away from Parliament's entrances and busy commercial districts, citing the need to protect those locations, and called for crowd management to rely more heavily on technology and measured coordination rather than physical restriction alone. Directing protest activity toward Ramlila Ground, she argued, would keep areas such as Connaught Place free from the kind of disruption and property damage that demonstrations might otherwise bring to commercial districts.

Among the proposals Bedi put forward was a restructured approach to crowd management, with Civil Defence volunteers and women police personnel positioned at the front lines rather than having heavily armed officers deployed from the outset. Her position held that deploying officers in riot gear ought to be treated as a measure of last resort, called upon only when the situation genuinely warrants it.

Around the same time, Bedi put forward a proposal via X that Civil Defence volunteers be stationed at student protest sites, drawing a parallel between that potential role and the function the Border Security Force performs along national frontiers. A video posted alongside her message showed her putting forward the idea that Civil Defence volunteers equipped with protective gear, but without canes, ought to be deployed to confront the demonstrators. Law enforcement officers assigned to the area would bear responsibility for keeping volunteers out of harm's way and ensuring that neither people nor public property came to any harm.

The comments attributed to Bedi arose at a time when the conduct of security forces toward those who took part in the 20 July march to Parliament — an event organised under the Cockroach Janta Party banner — was drawing public scrutiny.