Delhi Police to check protest applications for Jantar Mantar

With the month-long protest by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) at Jantar Mantar concluding on Saturday, the Delhi Police on Sunday said it has begun scrutinising a backlog of applications seeking permission to hold demonstrations at the designated protest site

With the month-long protest by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) at Jantar Mantar concluding on Saturday, the Delhi Police on Sunday said it has begun scrutinising a backlog of applications seeking permission to hold demonstrations at the designated protest site.

Typically, Jantar Mantar witnesses the highest number of protests at the time of Parliament session (Arvind Yadav)

Senior officers said requests for permission to protest have been pouring in almost daily over the past month, but none was approved while the CJP agitation was underway. Those pending are now being reviewed at the Parliament Street police station.

“We have been receiving requests seeking permission to hold protests at Jantar Mantar. None of them has been approved yet. We will now go through the pending applications and decide which organisations can be allowed to hold demonstrations at the site. People with permissions can protest till the regulated time,” a senior police officer said, requesting anonymity.

Typically, Jantar Mantar witnesses the highest number of protests at the time of Parliament sessions, as organisations from different places head to Delhi for demonstrations.

However, police maintained security presence at Jantar Mantar on Sunday, keeping the main protest site out of bounds for several hours even as traffic curbs across the city were gradually lifted and metro services returned to normal.

On Sunday morning, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) workers cleared garbage and dismantled tents and other temporary structures. Barricades remained around Jantar Mantar, with police personnel preventing public from entering the main protest area. While most barricades on surrounding roads had been removed, access to the designated demonstration zone remained blocked.

Senior police officers, along with personnel from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and police teams from multiple Delhi districts, continued to remain deployed at the venue. Officials said the deployment was aimed at maintaining law and order, preventing protesters from regrouping, and overseeing the cleanup operation.

“While the announcement about the resignation of the Union minister came around 3pm, it took more than 10 hours for all the protesters to leave. We did not remove anyone and waited till the area became empty. Now, we are allowing only those protesters from other organisations who have the necessary permissions,” a senior police officer said.

The security presence extended beyond central Delhi. In south and southeast Delhi, police teams continued checking vehicles and stopping people headed towards the capital’s centre until late Saturday night. Several people were turned back and not allowed to proceed towards Jantar Mantar or the Connaught Place area, officials said.

HT on Saturday evening found hundreds of protesters being stopped near the Hazrat Nizamuddin area and asked to return home. Police teams were primarily checking autorickshaws and two-wheelers carrying students.

Police officials said security deployment at Jantar Mantar would continue until they were satisfied that the situation had completely returned to normal, after which personnel drawn from other districts and central armed police forces would be gradually withdrawn.