SC tells Delhi to lift the barriers
Orders withdrawal of Section 163 curbs on large gatherings
The Supreme Court, in a special sitting on Sunday, ordered that Delhi’s Metro and railway services run normally, internet access remain uninterrupted, and barricades be reviewed immediately, while hearing challenges to restrictions imposed ahead of protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. It also told the authorities to withdraw the enforcement of Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, which bans large gatherings.
A bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana also directed that authorities must not detain peaceful, unarmed protesters except through the procedure established by law, particularly outside areas covered by prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS. It also issued notices to the Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Govind Mohan; Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) Chairperson D Thara while hearing a plea seeking contempt proceedings for an alleged violation of the court’s direction to ensure that there is no “complete prohibition” on metro and train services in Delhi due to the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest.
Having considered the submissions of the counsel for the parties and perused the averments in the contempt petition, we think that the petitioners have made out a prima facie case. Accordingly, we issue notice upon the alleged contemnors. They are directed to file a counter-affidavit to the petition, including a compliance report, as per our order, by October 13, 2026. Their personal presence is dispensed with in the meantime,” the bench said.
The special hearing on Sunday followed petitions alleging mass detentions, restrictions on movement, internet suspensions and failure to comply with the court’s earlier directions on transport services. The petitions also challenged the closure of 45 Metro stations during Saturday’s planned demonstration.
The CJP and some student organisations have called the protest against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI). The Government thwarted a planned mass mobilisation at Jantar Mantar on Saturday after an unprecedented security clampdown and the detention of more than 7,000 protesters, including CJP leader Abhijit Dipke, several opposition leaders and YouTuber Dhruv Rathee.
Recording the submissions, the bench said senior lawyers had alleged a “flagrant violation of the directions”, citing disrupted Metro services, the closure of New Delhi and Nizamuddin railway stations, the absence of traffic advisories and harassment and detention beyond areas covered by prohibitory orders.
The bench asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to ensure the Delhi Metro runs on its normal schedule and that internet services are not disrupted, subject to law-and-order conditions.
“Metro trains and railway facilities shall function normally until and unless they need to be regulated, keeping in mind reasonable restrictions envisaged under Article 19(2). Similarly, the court said that free movement of people in the city shall be ensured, subject to the law-and-order situation and/or traffic regulations. Imposition of barricades on roads shall be reviewed forthwith to ensure free movement subject to law and order and traffic requirements,” the bench said in its order.
“Similarly, free movement of people in the city shall be ensured subject to law-and-order situation and/or traffic regulations. The court said it would review the imposition of barricades on roads forthwith to ensure free movement, subject to law and order and traffic requirements. There shall be no illegal detention, particularly in cases of peaceful unarmed assemblage of people beyond the area where Section 163 BNSS is in operation,” read the order.
The court also asked Mehta to ensure that lawyers, journalists and others are not impeded in discharging their professional duties. “Internet facilities shall remain undisturbed, as per law.... When we are saying internet facilities shall remain undisturbed, we are not taking away the powers under the Information Technology Act. “There shall not be illegal detention, save and except by procedure established by law, particularly about assemblage of people beyond the area within which it (section 163 of the BNSS) is imposed,” the bench said.
It ordered that a board put up outside its premises stating that section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which prohibits the assembly of five or more persons, shall be taken down. “We have been informed that a notice board stating imposition of section 163, BNSS, in and around the vicinity of the Supreme Court has been put up. “We direct the authority concerned to take down this board, if not already done, so that citizens as well as lawyers can have access to justice,” the bench ordered.
During the proceedings, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing in the court for Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha, told the court that police are detaining people from trains and anyone outside the four-km radius of Jantar Mantar, where prohibitory orders are in place. He told the court that despite the October 9 order, 45 metro stations were closed to passenger entry and exit.
Senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy said around 45 detention centres have been opened in the city and around 7,000 people, including opposition leaders, were detained. She contended that metro stations, namely the GTB Nagar and Vishwavidyalaya metro stations, along with other stations, were completely shut out to the public, and that the court’s order was deliberately and willfully violated.
Senior advocate Shadan Farasat, whom the Delhi Police detained during the protests on Saturday, submitted that he was “brutalised” along with a large number of lawyers and said the situation in the city was remarkably suppressive. “It is about the citizens’ right to protest. The sense I got yesterday was that we were one step away from a police state. Kindly restore the citizens’ right to protest peacefully in the capital. Yesterday, that right was destroyed,” Farasat said.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan informed the court that senior advocates Dinesh Dwivedi, Uttara Babbar and Farasat were detained and individuals marching peacefully were subjected to violence. Sankaranarayanan said the court should fully restore free movement, remove all barricades, and restore services at metro stations.
Mehta submitted that on October 10, entry and exit were restricted at only 45 of the 303 stations, accounting for just 15 per cent of the entire metro network. He said the petitions seeking the release of the detainees do not survive, as most of those detained have already been released.
As the hearing began on Sunday, the top court said it would hear all lawyers while addressing a plea seeking contempt proceedings against authorities for an alleged blatant violation of the court’s direction on the matter.
The court was also hearing a habeas petition filed by Guruswamy against the detention of political leaders. The court is also seized of a plea by Jha alleging the Delhi Police disproportionately used force during the protests against the CEC and the EC.
The RJD MP has alleged that police indulged in illegal detention, abduction, house arrests of unarmed protesters, student leaders, lawyers, politicians and civilians, as well as “sexual harassment of women protesters”. The contempt plea, filed by advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi, names Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar, and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Chairperson D Thara as respondents.
The petition refers to the top court’s October 9 order, passed while hearing a separate plea against the closure of 57 metro stations and the cancellation of trains to Delhi in view of the protest.
