On Tuesday, 2 November, the Supreme Court said that no one can occupy a protest site indefinitely. It said even designated protest venues must have a definite time limit, while hearing a batch of petitions arising out of the recent protests in central Delhi against the Election Commission and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant observed as it weighed petitions filed by traders’ bodies complaining of severe commercial losses, alongside pleas raising allegations of police excesses, mass detentions, Metro closures and internet shutdowns during the protests.
Chief Justice Surya Kant said, “You cannot occupy a site for all time to come. There are other protesters also. Where will farmers or lawyers go? Everyone has a right to protest.” The court also stressed that designated protest sites should have a definite time period, and that public protest sites cannot be occupied indefinitely because others also have the right to express their grievances.
News Alert! You can’t occupy protest site for all times; there are others who would also like to vent their grievances: SC. https://t.co/1lsL3MuYSO
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 3, 2026
The hearing comes in the backdrop of the large protest at Jantar Mantar last month. It was organised by Opposition parties and others against the Election Commission, before the location was stripped of its tag as a designated protest site.
The petitions before the court also concern the October protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. More than 7,000 protesters were detained by police on 10 October, according to reports.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the government, told the court that whoever gives a call for a protest should take responsibility for any consequence arising from it.
The court also called for a balance between the right to protest and the right to trade. Noting that traders were losing crores during the festive season. It asked traders’ associations to make the organisers of the anti-CEC protests parties to their pleas alleging business losses.
Counsel for the traders submitted that nearly 50 lakh people live in areas surrounding the protest site, shops had remained shut, and Connaught Place wore a deserted look on the day of the hearing.
