Supreme Court orders removal of Delhi barricades, seeks normal metro services
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The Supreme Court on Sunday directed authorities to remove barricades across Delhi, restore normal metro and railway services, and ensure free movement following restrictions imposed during Saturday’s CJP protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
A bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said public movement must be permitted, subject to law and order and traffic requirements. It also warned against illegal detention of peaceful, unarmed protesters.
The court directed authorities to ensure uninterrupted internet services in accordance with the law. It also ordered the removal of boards announcing restrictions under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) around the Supreme Court, if not already done, to ensure access to justice.
The directions came during a special Sunday hearing after police detained hundreds of protesters and imposed movement restrictions, including metro station closures. The court listed the matter for further hearing on Tuesday.
During the hearing, the bench responded to senior advocate Kapil Sibal’s remarks about losing faith in the institution over electoral-roll irregularities.
“We are here to RESTORE the faith of Mr Sibal in this institution... whose confidence has been one of the surest weapons in our arsenal,” the bench said.
Sibal had said on Saturday, “We are tired of going to the Supreme Court. I feel that I have in my mind that there is no point in me going there,” expressing frustration over the lack of relief on voter-list irregularities.
Questioning restrictions on peaceful demonstrations, Sibal said, “If a person or a community wants to protest peacefully, then who is in danger? The society is not in danger. It seems that the government is in danger,” he said.
He also questioned the scale of the security deployment in Delhi.
“How long will this go on? The entire city cannot be barricaded,” he said.
The protest, organised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) at Jantar Mantar, demanded Kumar’s resignation over electoral-roll irregularities.