Overview
- The Supreme Court, which heard a cluster of petitions on Tuesday, observed that no individual or group can occupy a designated protest site forever and issued notices to the Centre, Delhi government and Delhi Police seeking prompt responses.
- Traders' bodies have told the court that prolonged occupations at Ramlila Maidan during the festive season forced shops to close and caused large revenue losses, and the bench asked those organisations to add the protest organisers as respondents to their pleas.
- The bench divided the matters into categories for staged hearings and asked parties to file factual matrices, loss assessments and lists of organisers so the court can balance the constitutional right to protest with the right to trade and earn a livelihood.
- The government has already denotified Jantar Mantar and identified alternative venues including Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground and CBD Ground, an issue the court said it will review to test whether authorities applied independent judgment.
- Petitions raising separate claims of mass detention, police excess, closure of metro stations, internet restrictions, use of facial recognition and complaints by journalists have been admitted for focused consideration, with the court scheduling some matters, including a hearing on journalists' complaints, for later dates.