Supreme Court directs authorities not to illegally detain peaceful protesters
The Supreme Court on Sunday directed that people gathering peacefully should not be illegally detained, while issuing notice to the Centre on a plea seeking contempt proceedings over the alleged violation of its earlier order on metro and train services in Delhi amid the CJP protest.
In a special sitting, a bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to ensure that the Delhi Metro functions according to its normal schedule and that internet services are not disrupted, subject to law and order conditions.
“In view of the urgent applications alleging violation of our earlier order dt. October 9, 2026, and also alleging illegal detention of large number of individuals at Delhi on October 10, 2026, this court had assembled for an urgent hearing,” the bench said.
Senior counsel submitted that the court’s directions had been flagrantly violated, alleging that Metro services were disrupted, New Delhi and Nizamuddin railway stations remained closed, traffic advisories were not issued, and several people were subjected to harassment and illegal detention.
The bench noted allegations that people were detained even outside the area covered by the prohibitory order under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023.
The apex court also asked Mehta to ensure that lawyers, journalists and others were not obstructed from discharging their professional duties.
During the hearing, Mehta submitted that entry and exit were restricted at only 45 of the 303 stations across the Metro network on October 10.
At the start of the hearing, the court said it would hear all lawyers appearing in the matter while considering the plea seeking contempt proceedings against authorities for the alleged violation of its directions.
The court was also hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy concerning the detention of political leaders.
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 referred to the Supreme Court’s October 9 order, passed while hearing a separate plea challenging the closure of 57 Metro stations and the cancellation of trains to Delhi in view of the planned protest.
The CJP and some student organisations had called for a protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the functioning of the Election Commission.
The planned mass mobilisation at Jantar Mantar on Saturday was thwarted amid a major security clampdown. More than 7,000 protesters were detained, including CJP leader Abhijit Dipke, several opposition leaders and YouTuber Dhruv Rathee.
