New Delhi, India – The New Delhi Municipal Council has ordered the closure of Central Park in Connaught Place on October 16 and 17 ahead of the ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’ march called by Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke. The Delhi High Court refused to restrain the CJP from holding the protest, even as it took on record the police’s assurance that all possible steps would be taken to regulate and control their activity.
The Delhi Police urged protesters and the public to stay away from such assemblies, citing that prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS were in force in Connaught Place and adjoining areas. However, the police also said a limited number of people could be facilitated to carry the national flag and sing the national anthem at a suitable location, emphasising that the flag must be displayed and the anthem sung with due respect, dignity, and decorum.
Dipke urged the youth, “patriots,” and political parties to unite and wave the tricolour at the planned protest. The call for the march in Delhi and other cities was announced after CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were arrested for entering the denotified protest site at Jantar Mantar carrying the national flag early on Tuesday. The Aam Aadmi Party has also extended its support to the proposed march, and the DYFI announced it will participate and launched a Delhi-wide campaign against alleged voter deletions.
The CJP took a dig at the Delhi Police over security arrangements, posting on X: “Don’t worry. Unlike your Police, we carry the Constitution in one hand and the Tiranga in the other – not lathis and pellet guns.” Meanwhile, CJP legal head Ratna Singh raised concerns about “deliberate delays and miscommunication” surrounding the release of Das and Ranka, who remain in Tihar Jail after being sent to five-day judicial custody.
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court issued notices on a series of petitions challenging the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision exercise, as well as the mass detentions of protesters, journalists, and others during anti-CEC protests last week. The Bench directed the preservation of CCTV footage, including within the apex court premises, and sought reasons behind the prohibitory orders under Section 163 BNSS from the Union government. The court also issued notices to Rahul Gandhi, Digvijaya Singh, and Asaduddin Owaisi on petitions related to the SIR, and agreed to form a committee exclusively comprising women members to examine grievances of women journalists.
In a separate development, the Mumbai Police issued a notice to actor Imran Khan, a US national, directing him to leave India by October 28 for allegedly violating provisions of the Immigration and Foreigners Act by participating in a protest in Mumbai. Khan is expected to challenge the notice in the Bombay High Court. Heavy security arrangements remain in place in and around Connaught Place and Jantar Mantar, with several companies of paramilitary forces stationed in the capital.
