Delhi High Court, sitting with Acting Chief Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma, rejected the order to stop the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest slated for Central Park in Connaught Place on Friday, October 16. The bench took note of Delhi Police’s assurance that it would employ "all possible measures under the law" to regulate the gathering.
But the decision follows a week of escalating tensions. Police had earlier detained hundreds of demonstrators heading to the Jantar Mantar road for the CJP’s October 10 protest on alleged electoral fraud. The Congress‑led INDIA bloc has also staged parallel marches, while the AAP announced it will join the CJP rally, urging participants to carry the national flag.
A licensed street vendor, whose business would be hit by the protest, filed a plea asking the court to direct police to protect traders’ rights. His lawyer argued that another weekend of closures during the Dussehra festive period would wreck livelihoods. Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma countered that the police had already taken steps to control the CJP’s activities.
Founder Abhijeet Dipke accused the state of dragging students and youth off the streets for the past fortnight, and of detaining opposition leaders such as Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal and Pinarayi Vijayan. He also claimed that CJP members Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were jailed for raising the flag at Jantar Mantar earlier this week, charged with trespass after the site was denotified.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has issued notices to the Election Commission and its officials over petitions filed by Rahul Gandhi and other INDIA bloc leaders regarding the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Chief Justice Surya Kant told the court that "nobody can browbeat the judiciary," and directed that CCTV footage from the protest be preserved. The next step will be the court’s review of the petitions and any further directives to the police.