Jantar Mantar No Longer a Designated Protest Site as Delhi Police Names Three New Venues

New Delhi: Delhi Police has de-notified Jantar Mantar as a designated site for protests and demonstrations, naming Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground and the CBD Ground in East Delhi as the new venues, according to an order made public on Monday.

The standing order, dated October 11 and signed by Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar, says the Ministry of Home Affairs had set up a committee to examine alternative venues where citizens could exercise their right to protest, in place of the existing designated site. It partly modifies an earlier standing order from April 2022. A detailed and revised standard operating procedure for protests at the three grounds will be issued separately.

The notification comes amid heightened security in the capital after calls for demonstrations at Jantar Mantar, including the protest planned by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Police deployed tens of thousands of personnel and detained hundreds of protesters over the weekend.

Jantar Mantar, near Parliament, has long been the capital’s best-known protest spot. In 2017, the National Green Tribunal ordered protests there to stop and directed that demonstrations move to Ramlila Maidan, though Jantar Mantar continued to be used under a regulated arrangement.

The move is likely to face legal and political scrutiny as Jantar Mantar has been the designated protest site throughout the youth protests in the country since June. The removal follows a string of attempts by the Modi government to stop public from gathering and protesting against the government's failures and irregularities.