Delhi Police Remove Jantar Mantar as Designated Protest Site, Name Three New Grounds

Delhi Police removed Jantar Mantar from the list of designated protest venues on Monday and named three alternative sites: Ramlila Ground in central Delhi, Burari Ground in the north, and CBD Ground in East Delhi.

The standing order, signed by Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar on 11 October, modifies an earlier order from April 2022. It follows recommendations from a committee set up by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to examine alternative locations where citizens can organise demonstrations. Detailed standard operating procedures for the new venues will be issued separately.

Jantar Mantar has served as one of the capital’s main sites for public protest for years. The change comes while opposition parties and the Cockroach Janta Party have been seeking permission to demonstrate there over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and the position of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party spokespersons Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka on Tuesday after they arrived at the site.

Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party, responded on X that the entire country would become Jantar Mantar. Opposition leaders have continued to press for protests near the Supreme Court and other central locations. Paramilitary deployment in the capital has been extended for four more weeks amid recurring demonstrations.

Ramlila Ground is the closest of the three new sites to Lutyens’ Delhi, roughly three to four kilometres from Jantar Mantar. Burari Ground is about 18 kilometres away and CBD Ground in Shahdara is more than 12 kilometres distant. The order does not ban all gatherings at Jantar Mantar, but it removes the site from the formal list of places where organised protests can be held under the existing standing procedures.

The Ministry of Home Affairs committee examined locations that could accommodate demonstrations while reducing disruption in the central government area. The police order states that the three new grounds will now serve as the designated venues. Organisers must apply for permission under the revised procedures once those procedures are published.

The shift continues a long pattern in Delhi of moving designated protest spaces. Previous orders have restricted or relocated demonstrations near Parliament and other sensitive zones. The latest change coincides with heightened political activity over electoral roll revisions and with student and opposition groups seeking access to central sites.

Delhi Police have filed FIRs related to some recent marches. The new arrangement places the burden on organisers to use the listed grounds and to follow the forthcoming standard operating procedures. Whether the change reduces the frequency of attempts to gather at Jantar Mantar itself will depend on how strictly the order is enforced in the coming weeks.