Summary
On 12 October 2026, Delhi Police released a standing order dated 11 October withdrawing Jantar Mantar's status as the capital's designated protest venue. It names Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground and CBD Ground in Shahdara as the new sites.
The order follows recommendations of a committee set up by the Union Home Ministry. It also follows a Supreme Court order of 9 October urging the Centre to find spacious alternative sites with basic amenities. Critics, including the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and opposition leaders, call it arbitrary, pointing to the distance from Parliament and the timing amid protests over the electoral roll revision.
Challenges are before the Delhi High Court.
WHY IT MATTERS FOR UPSC & STATE PCS
Delhi Police denotified Jantar Mantar as a protest site and designated three larger grounds instead. The move came days after a Supreme Court bench led by CJI Surya Kant urged the Centre to identify spacious protest sites and amid protests over the SIR and demands for the CEC's resignation.
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A Right
Defined by Its Address Article 19(1)(b) guarantees every citizen the right to assemble peaceably and without arms. Article 19(3) lets the State impose reasonable restrictions on that right in the interests of public order.
Neither provision says a word about where. The location of dissent, which decides whether anyone in power actually sees it, is left entirely to executive regulation. That silence explains why Jantar Mantar could be denotified by a police standing order rather than by a law.
The rule as written On paper, the Delhi Police order is hard to fault.
The Supreme Court asked for it. On 9 October, a bench led by CJI Surya Kant urged the Centre to find spacious, open protest sites. The bench noted that central Delhi offers protesters no washrooms, medical help or drinking water.
The petition before it had itself asked that Jantar Mantar be replaced by Ramlila Maidan or another large ground. The capacity comparison favours the new sites. Jantar Mantar was capped at 1,000 people. Ramlila Maidan holds about 50,000, Burari 80,000 to 1 lakh and CBD Ground about 15,000.
The government can fairly say it complied with the Court.
The rule as practised The Court's own doctrine sets a second test.
In Re: Ramlila Maidan Incident (2012) held that restrictions on fundamental rights must be the least intrusive possible. Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan v. Union of India (2018) struck down a complete ban on protests at Jantar Mantar. It allowed earmarked zones and strict regulation, but kept a protest space close to the seat of power. Measured against that test, three facts matter:
- Distance. Ramlila Maidan is about 3.4 to 4 km from Jantar Mantar. Burari is 15 to 16 km away and CBD Ground 13 km or more, by some estimates over 26 km. Proximity to decision-makers is what MKSS protected.
- Availability. A PTI report cited by the Indian Express says Ramlila Maidan, the only nearby option, can be booked only on 29-31 December this year.
- Timing. The order came during protests over the electoral roll revision and demands for the CEC's resignation.
The structural twist Article 239AA(3)(a) keeps public order and police outside the Delhi Assembly's legislative power.
Delhi Police therefore works under the Union Home Ministry and the order followed an MHA committee whose composition and report have not been disclosed. The government most likely to be the target of protests in the capital is also the authority deciding where those protests may happen.
The pattern This is the third move in a long pattern.
The Boat Club near India Gate was closed to protests in 1993 after the massive farmers' rallies of 1988. Jantar Mantar inherited its role and was itself nearly shut before MKSS restored it. Each step has been framed as public order.
Each has moved dissent further from Parliament. For the examiner, the precise question is not whether the State may regulate protest; it plainly may. It is whether a restriction that satisfies the letter of public order can still fail the least-intrusive test when its practical effect is to make protest invisible.
Quick Facts
Key numbers & takeaways — revise these first
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Order: standing order titled Guidelines for holding Protest or demonstration in Delhi, dated 11 October 2026, issued by Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar.
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It partly modifies Standing Order No. L&O/48/22 of 28 April 2022, which had made Jantar Mantar the designated site.
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New venues: Ramlila Maidan (12 acres, about 50,000 people), Burari Ground (about 50 acres, 80,000 to 1 lakh people) and CBD Ground, Shahdara (12 acres, about 15,000 people).
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Old Jantar Mantar rules: protests from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., one day at a time, a cap of 1,000 people, applications 10 days in advance and no tents.
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Revised SOPs for the new venues are to be issued separately.
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Article 19(1)(b): right to assemble peaceably and without arms.
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Article 19(3): reasonable restrictions on assembly in the interests of sovereignty and integrity of India or public order.
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Article 239AA(3)(a): the Delhi Assembly cannot legislate on public order, police or land, so Delhi Police works under the Union Home Ministry.
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The Boat Club near India Gate was closed to protests in 1993, which made Jantar Mantar the main protest site.
Connect the dots for your UPSC preparation.
Standard news covers the event. Log in to read our comprehensive analysis and uncover the hidden constitutional, structural, and ethical dimensions of this topic:
How the concentric-circles test from Ram Manohar Lohia (1966) separates law and order from public order and which circle a venue shift can actually claim.
The tension between MKSS (2018), which preserved a protest space near power and Shaheen Bagh (2020), which limited occupation of public ways and where this order sits between them.
Why Article 239AA(3)(a) makes the Union both the regulator and the likely target of Delhi's protests and what that means for neutrality.
A proportionality-based design for protest regulation: tiered venues, transparent permissions and a reasoned order for every refusal.
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