The Delhi Police on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that an order prohibiting the assembly of five or more persons in the national capital from September 30 to October five has been “withdrawn.”
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told this to a bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud when a matter pertaining to the order passed by Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora was mentioned for urgent listing.
“Solicitor General says that the order by the Commissioner of Police has been withdrawn,” the CJI told senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy, who mentioned the matter for urgent listing.
The order issued by the police commissioner prohibited the assembly of five or more persons, carrying of fire-arms, banners, placards etc, pocketing or dharnas in any public areas from September 30 to October 5, citing law and order issues, including calls of protests given by several organisations.
Guruswamy mentioned the matter before the bench, also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, and said the order passed by the police commissioner impacts the city right now because of the Dussehra season. She said due to the order, Ram Leela cannot take place and the order affects the Durga Puja festivities as well.
“Go to the Delhi High Court,” the bench initially said. Mehta informed the court that petitions raising similar issue was scheduled to come up for hearing before the High Court during the day. The CJI told Guruswamy that the senior law officer has stated that the order has been withdrawn. According to a police officer, the old order has ceased on the intervening night of October 2 and 3.
According to the earlier order issued from the Delhi Police Headquarters, the police commissioner had directed to impose Section 163 (which was earlier Section 144 of CrPC) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita in the districts of New Delhi, North Delhi and Central Delhi and all police stations in the jurisdiction sharing the borders with other states.
“The general atmosphere in Delhi is sensitive from a law and order point of view due to various current issues like prevailing communal atmosphere in view of the proposed Waqf Amendment Bill and the issue of Shahi Idgah in Sadar Bazaar area, politically surcharged issue of MCD Standing Committee elections and pending declaration of results of DUSU elections etc,” the order had stated.
“Further, there will be heavy movement of the VVIPs and dignitaries in the areas of New Delhi and Central District on October 2 on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi,” it had said.
The earlier order further stated that the Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana Legislative Assembly elections are underway and, thus, there was a need to have continuous checks on the movement of persons and vehicles from Delhi borders.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said the withdrawal of the prohibitory order was a “victory” of the people, especially Hindu devotees.
At a press conference, AAP leader and Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj claimed that the order had sparked “outrage” among Hindu devotees concerned about Navratri programmes like temple visits, Jagran and religious processions in the coming days. The nine-day Navratri celebrations began on Thursday.
“This is a moment of triumph for the people of Delhi, especially for the Hindu devotees, who were worried about how they would celebrate the festival,” said the AAP leader.
The minister said that withdrawal of the order was also a “defeat” of the Lt Governor under whom the Delhi Police worked.
“This is an embarrassing defeat for the Lieutenant Governor. The Central government and its lawyers knew that such absurd orders cannot be implemented in a sovereign, free country,” he said.
The prohibitory order was challenged in the court by the Kalkaji temple priest and during the hearing, the solicitor general representing the Centre informed that it was revoked, Bharadwaj said.
He also slammed the BJP and the RSS for not speaking against the order despite claiming to be “defenders of Hinduism”.
