‘What is urgent?’: Delhi High Court adjourns Youth Congress protest plea till Monday
Barricades are installed at Jantar Mantar ahead of the protest. File | Photo credit: PTI
The Delhi High Court on Friday (Oct 9, 2026) refused to give an expedited hearing to a petition filed by the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) challenging the Delhi Police’s decision to deny permission to a protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at Jantar Mantar, saying the matter could be heard on Monday.
Also read | Opposition leaders say they will continue protests against CEC, ‘vote chori’
The suit, filed by IYC National President Uday Bhanu Chib, was mentioned before a bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Nitin Sambre Senior Advocate Sanjoy Ghos.
Mr. Ghose told the court that he had also mentioned the matter on Thursday when the court allowed him to mention it again on Friday if the petition was not listed.
“What is urgent? We will hear it on Monday (October 12),” Judge Sambre said.
The petition challenges the October 1 communication through which the Delhi Police rejected the IYC’s request to hold a peaceful demonstration at Jantar Mantar. On Thursday, the court agreed to hear the plea and asked the petitioner to mention the matter again if it is not listed on Friday.
The IYC went to court after its application, filed on September 25, seeking permission to hold a demonstration involving about 100-150 people between October 1 and October 25 was rejected. The organization is demanding Mr. Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
In its petition, the IYC claimed that it was committed to complying with all statutory conditions relating to safety, traffic management, discipline and public order.
The plea raises questions to what extent the police can regulate the exercise of fundamental rights while adjudicating requests for peaceful demonstrations at Jantar Mantar.
“The proposed demonstration is based on concerns about the transparency, accountability and functioning of constitutional institutions and was proposed as a peaceful exercise of the petitioner’s right to freedom of speech and expression and the right to peacefully assemble without arms,” the petition states.
“The power to modify a fundamental right cannot be converted into an unlimited power to prohibit its exercise,” the petition said, adding that restrictions must be reasonable, proportionate and based on individual assessment and not mechanical rejection.
The IYC requested that the October 1 police communication be quashed and that the authorities be instructed to reconsider their request in accordance with the law.
Published – 9 October 2026 12:00 PM IST