Delhi High Court schedules hearing on Indian Youth Congress president’s petition challenging police denial of protest permission

The Delhi High Court is scheduled to hear a petition filed by Indian Youth Congress (IYC) president Uday Bhanu Chib challenging the denial of police permission to hold a protest at Jantar Mantar.

Chib’s legal challenge targets the Delhi Police’s rejection of an application seeking permission for a peaceful demonstration regarding the SIR between October 1 and 25. The IYC had applied on September 25 to hold the protest with an anticipated turnout of 100 to 150 people. On October 1, the Deputy Commissioner of Police for New Delhi rejected the proposal, citing law and order concerns, traffic considerations, guidelines restricting demonstrations at Jantar Mantar to a single day, and intelligence inputs regarding potential mass gatherings.

During proceedings before Justice Amit Mahajan, Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, representing the Centre, argued that the petition had become “infructuous” following the recent removal of Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site.

Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, appearing for the IYC president, strongly disputed the government’s position. Luthra alleged that the denotification of the site was a “subterfuge” designed to thwart the challenge, stating that the petition remained active and that the petitioner intended to amend the plea.

The petition itself references objections raised by two Election Commissioners regarding modalities around the SIR, as highlighted in media reports. Chib’s legal challenge contends that the police cannot convert their regulatory powers into an unstructured discretion that denies peaceful democratic assembly without a clear legal foundation.

After initially passing over the matter, the High Court is set to resume hearings later in the day.