NEW DELHI, October 5 — The Supreme Court of India has agreed to list for expedited hearing a batch of public interest petitions challenging the routine imposition of blanket prohibitory orders by law enforcement agencies restricting peaceful civic and student assemblies at Jantar Mantar and central designated protest venues in the national capital.
Appearing before a bench presided over by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, senior counsel submitted that recurrent executive notifications promulgated under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) 2023 (analogous to erstwhile Section 144 of the CrPC) effectively extinguish the fundamental freedom of citizens to assemble peaceably and without arms under Article 19(1)(b) of the Constitution. The petition arose following the preemptive detention of civil rights and student representatives seeking to stage demonstrations concerning electoral roll administration.
The apex court observed that the right to peaceful dissent constitutes a foundational democratic core, though subject to reasonable restrictions in the interests of public order under Article 19(3). The bench scheduled the matter for comprehensive constitutional adjudication to evaluate the balance between public safety and civic assembly rights.
Fundamental freedoms under Part III of the Constitution, reasonable restriction doctrines under Article 19(3), and procedural safeguards under Section 163 of the BNSS are perennial subjects in UPSC GS Paper II (Polity & Governance) and judicial examinations. Candidates should remember that in Himat Lal K. Shah v. Commissioner of Police (1973) and Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) v. Union of India (2018), the Supreme Court ruled that citizens have a legitimate right to hold peaceful demonstrations at designated sites like Jantar Mantar, and blanket prohibitions cannot be used as an administrative weapon to stifle lawful assembly.