Delhi Police Register 3 Cases Over Jantar Mantar Protest.
The Delhi Police has registered three FIRs following Friday's protests against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar in Jantar Mantar. Protests were organized by political parties, student groups and civil society organisations over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the Election Commission’s (CEC) election.
According to senior police officers, FIRs were registered at Parliament Street and Connaught Place police stations. The cases were filed under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which deals with disobedience of an order issued by a public servant.
Why were FIRs registered?
Police officials said that the protesters violated prohibitory orders that were already in place across central Delhi. The order was issued under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
The Delhi Police had posted a public warning on social media on Friday morning, several hours before the scheduled demonstration. Restrictions were put in place to keep public order, to protect people’s lives and to prevent accidents, the police said.
Under the restrictions, gatherings of five or more people, processions, demonstrations, picketing, dharnas and public speeches were prohibited without prior written permission.
Police also warned that violators of the rules could be in trouble under Section 223 of the BNS and other laws.
Around 1,000 People Detained
The police action appeared as thousands of people tried to reach Jantar Mantar for the planned demonstration.
According to police officials, around 1,000 people were detained across Delhi during the day. There were nearly 750 people detained in areas around Jantar Mantar and around 400 people were detained from other parts of the city too. About 200 people were also under house arrest, they said.
Those detained from different locations were taken to different police stations in buses arranged by the Delhi Police.
The detained were former Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, AISA president Neha Bora and Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav. A number of AAP leaders, civil society activists and members of left-wing student groups and Congress youth workers were also detained.
Over 5,000 Security Personnel Deployed
More than 5,000 security personnel were deployed around Jantar Mantar to prevent protesters from reaching the demonstration site.
The protest had been called for 11am by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), All India Students’ Association (AISA), Students’ Federation of India (SFI), National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), Indian Youth Congress (IYC) and other student and youth organisations.
The protesters wanted CEC Gyanesh Kumar to quit and were concerned about electoral roll revision not being transparent.
No individuals named in FIRs so far
Police officers said no specific individual or organisation had been named in the suspects or accused column of the FIRs at the time of registration.
However, the FIRs mention the organisers and organisations involved in planning or participating in the demonstrations in their contents.
It is not clear yet if additional sections of the BNS or other laws will be added to the cases.
The development comes after the Delhi police have launched a large-scale security operation to stop the Jantar Mantar demonstration planned for the day as the city has been under tight control and public gatherings are restricted.