New Delhi, Oct 3 The Indian Youth Congress (IYC) president Uday Bhanu Chib has moved the Delhi High Court challenging the police's refusal to grant permission for a proposed demonstration at Jantar Mantar, arguing that authorities cannot prohibit peaceful assemblies under the guise of regulating them.
According to an official statement, the petition challenges a Delhi Police order dated October 1 rejecting the IYC's request to hold a peaceful demonstration involving around 100-150 people. It contends that the decision was taken without an individualised and proportionate assessment of the proposed gathering.
Filed by party's Legal Department, the petition argues that the police cannot "convert the power to regulate a peaceful assembly into a power to prohibit it".
The IYC had applied for permission on September 25 and undertaken to comply with all lawful conditions concerning security, traffic, discipline and public order, the statement read.
Despite repeated follow-ups, the rejection was communicated only on October 1, the first proposed date of the programme, it added.
The petition invokes Articles 14, 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(b) of the Constitution and challenges what it describes as the mechanical application of protest guidelines, the statement read.
The development comes a day after IYC workers staged a protest against the Election Commission, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls.
Dressed in black robes, white masks and skulls hanging around their necks, the protesters described themselves as "living ghosts" who had allegedly been removed from voter rolls despite being alive.
Led by Chib, the protesters attempted to march from the IYC office on Raisina Road to Jantar Mantar, raising slogans and displaying banners demanding Kumar's resignation. Police stopped them outside the office, IYC workers said.
