The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to restrain the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), led by its founder Abhijeet Dipke, from holding a protest at Central Park in Connaught Place on Friday, October 16.
The court took on record the Delhi Police’s assurance that it would take “all possible measures under the law” to regulate and control the gathering.
Abhijeet Dipke has called for “patriots” to gather at Central Park in Connaught Place, New Delhi, with the national flag to protest the police crackdown on demonstrators raising issue of alleged electoral fraud.
The AAP, which has largely stayed away from the INDIA bloc, has announced it’ll participate in the CJP’s protest, where Dipke has asked participants to carry the national flag. Meanwhile, also on Thursday, the Supreme Court issued notice to the Election Commission, the Chief Election Commissioner and the two Election Commissioners on petitions filed by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and other INDIA bloc leaders over decisions related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The Congress-led Opposition’s INDIA bloc is also holding protests on the issue, and this week the two parallel protests against the BJP-led central government appear to be converging.
This comes days after the police detained hundreds who intended to go to the Jantar Mantar road near Connaught Place for the CJP’s protest call of October 10 over alleged electoral fraud. READ | Centre, Delhi Police Defend Curbs, Actions During October 10 CJP Protest The High Court’s bench of Acting Chief Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma was on Thursday hearing a plea by a licensed street vendor, who claimed the protest would affect the rights of traders and sought a direction to the police to regulate it in line with the law laid down by the Supreme Court.
Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma appeared for the authorities and told the court that steps had already been taken to control the CJP’s activities. Referring to the INDIA bloc’s October 12 march from Barakhamba Road to the court premises, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said: “Nobody can browbeat the judiciary.”
