“You Can’t Occupy A Site All The Time”: Supreme Court Draws Limits On Protest Sites

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said protest sites cannot remain occupied indefinitely and sought responses from the government, Delhi Police and other authorities on a traders' body plea alleging that demonstrations in Delhi against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had caused losses worth crores of rupees. The court also said the right to protest must be balanced against the right to livelihood.

The bench was headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and included Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana. It said others must also get a chance to air their grievances. The petitions also flagged mass detentions, alleged police excesses, Delhi Metro station closures and internet shutdowns.

The case arose from a petition by a traders' body that said shop closures during the protests in the national capital against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had caused losses running into crores of rupees.

Protest Rights Limits

"You can't occupy a site all the time. Where will farmers, journalists go? Everyone has the right to protest. Designated time must be given for a designated period," the CJI said, stressing that protests need fixed time slots.

Chief Justice Kant also said permission orders for demonstrations should spell out the conditions attached to them. "You can't prevent other people, that I am doing protest now, you can't," he said.

Trader Loss Claims

As protests gripped the national capital, traders raised concerns over mounting business losses, alleging that repeated shutdowns and disruptions linked to the agitations had hit commercial activity.

The Delhi Police removed Jantar Mantar from the list of approved protest venues on October 12 after a stand-off with the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), but traders said the move brought little relief.

The Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI) said Delhi trade lost an estimated Rs 11,000 crore on November 1 because of the INDIA bloc's large rally at Ramlila Maidan, one of three alternate protest sites. It said retail and wholesale markets, transport, hospitality and tourism took a hit, with about 2.5 lakh shops shut.

On Tuesday, the CTI wrote to the Delhi Police Commissioner and asked for rallies, protest marches and sit-ins to be banned until November 11. It said repeated political rallies and protests had cost businesses in the capital about Rs 14,000 crore in the past month.

Women Journalists Case

The Supreme Court bench said the issue of alleged assaults on women journalists during the Delhi protests would be listed separately from the other matters and taken up on November 23.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising told the court that she had submitted names in a sealed cover for a proposed Special Investigation Team headed by a woman judge to exclusively examine complaints of sexual violence against women.

She said she was awaiting an order constituting the committee and sought clarity on whether a separate SIT would be set up to examine allegations of molestation of women journalists. Another lawyer also raised allegations of assault on women police personnel.