CEC protest Gyanesh Kumar update: AISA president Neha Bora, Prashant Bhushan among 150 protesters detained in Delhi

The IYC chief moved the Delhi High Court against the denial of permission for the Jantar Mantar protest

Indian Youth Congress (IYC) president Uday Bhanu Chib moved the Delhi High Court against the police’s refusal to grant permission for the proposed demonstration at Jantar Mantar, arguing that the authorities could not ban peaceful assemblies under the guise of regulating them.

According to an official statement, the petition challenges the Delhi Police’s order dated 1 October 2026 rejecting the IYC’s request to hold a peaceful demonstration involving about 100-150 people. He claims that the decision was taken without an individual and adequate assessment of the proposed assembly.

The petition, filed by the party’s legal department, claims that the police cannot “convert the power to regulate peaceful assembly into the power to ban it”.

“The IYC applied for permission on September 25 and undertook to comply with all statutory conditions relating to safety, traffic, discipline and public order,” the statement said.

“Despite repeated checks, the rejection was only announced on October 1, the first proposed date of the program,” he added.

“The petition invokes Articles 14, 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(b) of the Constitution and challenges what it describes as a mechanical application of the protest guidelines,” the statement said.

The development comes a day after IYC workers staged a protest against the Election Commission demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the electoral rolls.

Dressed in black robes, white masks and skulls hanging from their necks, the protesters described themselves as “living ghosts” who had allegedly been removed from voter rolls despite being alive. – PTI