Plea in SC challenges restrictions on protests at Delhi's Jantar Mantar

A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging restrictions on protests at Delhirsquos Jantar Mantar and the Delhi Policersquos decision to designate three alternative venues for public demonstrations reported the PTIThe plea challenges a standing order issued by Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar on October 11 which denotified Jantar Mantar as a protest site and designated Ramlila Ground Burari Ground and CBD Ground in East Delhi as alternative venues for protests and demonstrations the news agency reportedThe petitioner has questioned the rationale behind the restrictions and raised concerns over the suitability and accessibility of the newly designated locations for public gatheringsDelhi Police to issue revised SOPAccording to the standing order the Delhi Police will issue a detailed and revised Standard Operating Procedure SOP separately for protests at the three designated venuesThe revised guidelines are expected to set out the arrangements and procedures governing demonstrations at these locationsPlea questions alternative venuesThe petition contends that the Supreme Court had previously recognised Jantar Mantar as a designated site for protests and rejected Ramlila Maidan as an unsuitable alternative according to the PTIIt questions the decision to withdraw the designation of Jantar Mantar and shift demonstrations to other locations raising concerns about whether the alternative venues are suitable for hosting public protestsThe plea also alleges that some of the proposed sites are located near landfill areas questioning their suitability for accommodating public gatheringsFormer High Court judge likely to lead legal teamFormer Delhi High Court judge Mukta Gupta is likely to lead the legal team representing the petitioner as per the PTIThe petition challenges the restrictions imposed on protest venues in the national capital and raises questions about the availability of suitable locations for citizens to exercise their right to peaceful public demonstrationsSC to hear pleas linked to Delhi protests on Oct 15Meanwhile the Supreme Courtwill hear all petitions linked to the protests in Delhi on Thursday October 15 The court has also granted the Centre an extension until Thursday to file its response to two pleas concerning restrictions during the demonstrations and alleged police detentions reported the ANIThe petitions include a contempt plea seeking action against authorities for allegedly disobeying the Supreme Courts October 8 order as well as another plea challenging alleged detentions by the policeSeveral pleas were mentioned for urgent listing before a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana as per the PTIldquoWe will list all these matters Make sure that the defects are curedrdquo CJI told senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan who mentioned the matter before the bench the PTI reportedThe Centre sought additional time to respond to the two petitions and the Supreme Court agreed to extend the deadline until ThursdayThe pleas raise concerns over the implementation of the courts earlier directions and the action taken by authorities during the ongoing protests in the national capital according to the ANIwith PTI inputs