Jantar Mantar De-Notified As Protest Site: Who Decides Where People Can Protest?

The Delhi Police has de-notified Jantar Mantar as a designated venue for protests and demonstrations, naming Ramlila Ground in Old Delhi, CBD Ground in East Delhi and Burari Ground in North Delhi as alternative sites.

According to a standing order dated October 11, 2026, signed by Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar, the decision partially modifies an earlier order dated April 28, 2022, which had designated Jantar Mantar as a protest venue. The police said revised standard operating procedures (SOPs) governing demonstrations at the three new sites would be issued separately.

The move comes amid a standoff between the CJP and Delhi Police over permission for a peaceful demonstration at Jantar Mantar. It also coincides with heightened security in Delhi ahead of the INDIA bloc's planned march to the Supreme Court against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The decision raises questions about who determines where demonstrations can be held, the extent of police powers to regulate protest venues and the constitutional right to peaceful assembly.

Who Decides Where Protests Can Be Held?

The responsibility for regulating public gatherings and maintaining law and order rests primarily with the police and the respective state governments.

In a written reply to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 5127 on March 24, 2026, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs said that public order and police are State subjects under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution. It added that the responsibility for maintaining law and order rests primarily with the respective state government.

The Centre does not centrally maintain details of every application for public gatherings or of all orders issued by states and Union Territories under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).

In Delhi, the latest decision was issued by the Delhi Police Commissioner following recommendations from a committee constituted by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. The October 11 order modifies the earlier arrangement that recognised Jantar Mantar as a designated protest venue.

The Home Ministry's parliamentary reply also listed the reasons that may lead to the denial of permission for public gatherings. These include administrative infeasibility, failure to fulfil terms and conditions, law-and-order concerns and applications submitted at short notice.

The latest order does not explicitly link the decision to the CJP's demand for a protest date or the INDIA bloc's planned march. However, it comes amid mounting tensions over demonstrations and the availability of designated protest sites in the national capital.

Why Has Jantar Mantar Been Removed From The List?

The immediate backdrop to the decision is a Supreme Court hearing on October 9, when a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana called for a rethink of Delhi's decades-old arrangement of holding demonstrations at Jantar Mantar.

The bench said the capital needed a larger, better-equipped space where citizens could exercise their democratic right to protest without compromising public safety, access to emergency services or the interests of other residents.

“It is high time that some other place with amenities for peaceful protestors need to be identified and designated,” the bench recorded in its order, asking the competent authority to consider the suggestion and take an appropriate decision.

The court said an alternative venue should have basic facilities, including portable cabins, toilets, drinking water and medical facilities. It also stressed that the site should be spacious enough to accommodate demonstrators while allowing emergency services to reach them in the event of an incident.

The suggestion emerged during the hearing of pleas challenging extensive restrictions on metro and railway services ahead of the October 10 protests in Delhi. The court asked the Centre and Delhi Police to reconsider the complete stoppage of public transport, emphasising that preventive security measures must remain proportionate and should not deprive residents of access to essential services.

During the hearing, the bench also pointed to the geographical location of Jantar Mantar as a source of difficulties surrounding protests and suggested that another open space could provide better facilities and fewer logistical complications.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Mariam Alexander Baby, told the court that Ramlila Maidan had previously served as an alternative protest venue but was no longer being offered when permission to demonstrate at Jantar Mantar was denied. The bench subsequently recorded the parties' agreement on the need to identify another site.

The October 11 police order names three venues: Ramlila Ground, CBD Ground and Burari Ground. According to the information provided in the order's coverage, the sites are approximately three kilometres, 13.5 kilometres and 44 kilometres from Jantar Mantar, respectively.

The police have said detailed SOPs for organising demonstrations at the new venues will be issued separately.

Jantar Mantar As A Protest Venue?

Jantar Mantar has served as Delhi's principal protest hub for more than three decades, hosting demonstrations by political parties, farmers, trade unions, students and civil society groups. Its location in central Delhi, within reach of Parliament and government offices, has made it a prominent venue for citizens seeking to draw attention to their grievances.

The site emerged as the capital's principal space for organised demonstrations in 1993, after authorities moved away from the Boat Club area near India Gate, where large protests had raised concerns about access to the seat of government and traffic management.

In 2017, the National Green Tribunal ordered a ban on protests along Jantar Mantar Road and directed that demonstrators be shifted to Ramlila Maidan, citing complaints about noise, sanitation and the occupation of public space.

The Supreme Court set aside the blanket prohibition in July 2018, holding that peaceful demonstrations could not be prohibited altogether, although they could be regulated to protect residents' rights and maintain public order.

The latest decision therefore marks another change in the arrangement governing demonstrations at a site that has long been associated with public protest in the capital.