Police detain protesters during a demonstration demanding the resignation of the country's election chief Gyanesh Kumar, at RK Ashram Metro Station in Delhi on Sunday. (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)Delhi Police’s decision to denotify Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site was on Wednesday challenged before the Supreme Court as well as the Delhi High Court.Both pleas challenge the October 12 notification, through which the Delhi Police denotified Jantar Mantar and designated three alternative protest sites – Burari Ground, Ramlila Ground and CBD Ground.Before the Delhi High Court, Indian Youth Congress (IYC) president Uday Bhanu Chib filed an application challenging the notification in an existing petition against the police’s refusal to allow the IYC to protest at Jantar Mantar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.In his original petition, Chib had challenged the broader practice of denying permission to protest at designated sites, arguing that such restrictions were disproportionate and that the police should exercise their powers narrowly, subject to reasonable restrictions.When the petition came up for hearing on Tuesday, the Delhi Police argued that it had become infructuous since Jantar Mantar was no longer a designated protest site.Chib’s counsel, senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, termed the move “subterfuge”, pointing out that the denotification had come hours after the police sought a deferment of the hearing on October 12.Also Read | ‘Jantar Mantar no longer protest site’: Delhi Police; CJP respondsOn October 13, the Delhi Police had told HC that it had denotified Jantar Mantar and identified alternative protest sites in compliance with the Supreme Court’s October 9 order. The SC had recorded that “suitable alternative sites” for protests “needed to be identified and designated”.Story continues below this adHowever, the October 12 notification cited recommendations made by a committee under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs as the basis for the change in venues, without referring to any Supreme Court order.Also Read | Jantar Mantar de-notified as protest site: Who decides where protests can be held?Meanwhile, advocate Swaty Singh Malik filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking to set aside the October 12 notification.One of the grounds raised in her petition is that the alternative venues are paid grounds, unlike Jantar Mantar. The plea also argues that denotifying Jantar Mantar goes against the SC’s 2018 judgment in the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan case, which upheld the right to hold protests at the site subject to regulation.Sohini Ghosh is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express. Previously based in Ahmedabad covering Gujarat, she recently moved to the New Delhi bureau, where she primarily covers legal developments at the Delhi High Court Professional Profile Background: An alumna of the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), she previously worked with ET NOW before joining The Indian Express. Core Beats: Her reporting is currently centered on the Delhi High Court, with a focus on high-profile constitutional disputes, disputes over intellectual property, criminal and civil cases, issues of human rights and regulatory law (especially in the areas of technology and healthcare). Earlier Specialty: In Gujarat, she was known for her rigorous coverage in the beats of crime, law and policy, and social justice issues, including the 2002 riot cases, 2008 serial bomb blast case, 2016 flogging of Dalits in Una, among others. She has extensively covered health in the state, including being part of the team that revealed the segregation of wards at the state’s largest government hospital on lines of faith in April 2020. With Ahmedabad being a UNESCO heritage city, she has widely covered urban development and heritage issues, including the redevelopment of the Sabarmati Ashram Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) Her recent reporting from the Delhi High Court covers major political, constitutional, corporate, and public-interest legal battles: High-Profile Case Coverage She has extensively covered the various legal battles - including for compensation under the aegis of North East Delhi Riots Claims Commission - pertaining to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, as well as 1984 anti-Sikh riots. She has also led coverage at the intersection of technology and governance, and its impact on the citizenry, from, and beyond courtrooms — such as the government’s stakeholder consultations for framing AI-Deepfake policy. Signature Style Sohini is recognized for her sustained reporting from courtrooms and beyond. She specialises in breaking down dense legal arguments to make legalese accessible for readers. Her transition from Gujarat to Delhi has seen her expand her coverage on regulatory, corporate and intellectual property law, while maintaining a strong commitment to human rights and lacuna in the criminal justice system. X (Twitter): @thanda_ghosh ... Read More