'Restores people's faith in justice system': Kapil Sibal after SC's directions to govt on protests

Rajya Sabha MP and senior advocate Kapil Sibal on Sunday welcomed the Supreme Court's directions on protests in Delhi, saying the order restored the faith of people and professionals in the country's justice system.

"We are deeply grateful to the Supreme Court of India for passing an order that restores the faith of the Indian people, as well as the faith of professionals, in the justice system of this country," Sibal said.

The top court on Sunday directed that people gathering peacefully should not be illegally detained and asked the Centre to ensure that Delhi Metro services function as per their normal schedule and internet services remain uninterrupted, subject to law and order conditions.


A bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana also directed that lawyers, journalists and others should not be impeded from discharging their professional duties.

The court issued notice to the Centre on a plea seeking contempt proceedings against authorities for allegedly violating its October 9 order concerning restrictions on metro and train services in Delhi in view of the protest called by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and some student organisations.

The applications before the court alleged that metro services were disrupted, New Delhi and Nizamuddin railway stations remained closed, and a large number of people were subjected to harassment and illegal detention on October 10.

The protest was called against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the functioning of the Election Commission.

Authorities had detained over 7,000 protesters, including CJP founder Abhijit Dipke, opposition leaders and YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, amid a security clampdown to prevent the planned mobilisation at Jantar Mantar on Saturday.