HC refuses to entertain plea for designating place for protest

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court refused to entertain a plea seeking directions to the authorities to designate a specific place outside Central Delhi for holding various protests.

"There is a lot of confusion in your petition. The prayer has to be in consonance with your pleading," a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna said, following which the counsel for petitioner Abhishek Jain withdrew his plea.

The court, however, allowed counsel Sugriv Dubey to file a fresh petition incorporating details which are in conformity with his prayers.

"At one hand, you (petitioner) are saying that there should be a designated place for such protest. However, at the same time you want a complete ban on such protest in Central Delhi. Your petition is dual in nature. Withdraw it," the bench said.

The PIL was filed in the wake of the arrest of activist Anna Hazare and detention of his over 1,400 supporters after they were denied permission to hold a protest at J P Park opposite Rajghat in Central Delhi to press for their demand for a stringent Lokpal Bill.

The petition had accused the government and the administration of adopting a "pick and choose" policy while granting permission to hold such protests.

"Pick and choose policy in allowing some and disallowing others to hold protests is arbitrary," the petition said.

"There should be a designated place for holding peaceful protests by common citizens of this country," it said.

The petition further stated, "Ban rallies in Central Delhi to avoid traffic jam or chaos caused by it but government should designate a place for holding peaceful protests."