Protests LIVE | CJP says ‘State at war with citizens’; Rahul invites all to SC march tomorrow

Tushar Mehta says entry curbs affected only 45 Metro stations

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court that Delhi Metro ran 4,157 train trips on October 10, in line with its regular schedule.

Mehta said restrictions on entry and exit were imposed at 45 of the network’s 303 stations, following instructions from law enforcement agencies.

“There are a total of 303 stations in the entire route of the Metro, starting point to end point. Entry and exit regulations were restricted to only 45 out of 303 stations across the Metro network, accounting for only 15 percent of the entire network,” he said as quoted by the Bar and Bench.

Tushar Mehta says Delhi Metro ran normally on October 10

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court that Delhi Metro services were not curtailed on October 10, denying claims of a reduction in operations during the protests.

“There was no curtailment of any metro service on the 10th. There was zero reduction in the total volume of metro operations on the 10th,” Mehta said as quoted by the Bar and Bench.

He added that trains operated according to the standard Saturday schedule, with 271 trains inducted into service on October 10.

‘Modi Is an embarrassment to India’: Abhijeet Dipke after release

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) convener Abhijeet Dipke criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi after being released from detention on Sunday, calling him an “embarrassment to India” and accusing him of cowardice and bullying.

“Modi, as PM, is an embarrassment to India. Never has this country seen a bigger coward and bully,” Dipke wrote on X on Sunday morning.

Dipke was detained at Delhi airport on Saturday along with CJP leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das ahead of the party’s planned protest demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged electoral roll irregularities.

The three leaders were released after nearly 24 hours in detention, following proceedings before an Executive Magistrate.

The CJP has called for continued efforts to protest in Delhi against Kumar, amid a police crackdown on demonstrators on Saturday. The party is scheduled to hold a press conference at 2 pm on Sunday.

Dhruv Rathee says he was ‘kidnapped’ from Gurugram home

YouTuber Dhruv Rathee has alleged that around 20 men in plain clothes took him from his Gurugram home on Saturday morning, describing the incident as a “kidnapping” rather than an arrest or detention.

In a self-recorded video posted on X, Rathee said the men arrived at around 7 am and entered his bedroom before he could react.

“As soon as the bedroom door opened, I woke up and I saw what is happening. How did so many people suddenly come into the bedroom. Before I could even react, these people literally kidnapped me and took me away,” he said.

Rathee said he used the term “kidnap” because, according to him, the men did not follow the procedure he would expect during an arrest or detention.

“Detention would be if I had gone to a protest, I was protesting there, then the police is detaining, that's a different thing,” he said.

He added that he would have cooperated had an officer identified themselves, shown an arrest warrant and explained the charges.

“But none of this happened,” Rathee said.

Senior advocate Shoeb Alam tells SC mass detentions are curtailing right to protest

Senior Advocate Shoeb Alam told the Supreme Court that people travelling to Delhi for the planned protest were being detained at railway stations, in the National Capital Region and at their homes, alleging that the action was aimed at preventing them from reaching the protest site.

Alam said passengers arriving in Delhi were being pulled off trains, while people in Gurugram and Noida were also being detained. He added that some homes had been raided to stop people from joining the demonstration.

He argued that people should be free to move to parts of the city outside the area covered by the prohibitory order under Section 163, and said they had committed no offence at the time of their detention.

Alam said the detentions, often lasting less than 24 hours before people were released, were being used to restrict the constitutional right to protest without technically violating the law.

“By colourable exercise of power, their right to protest, which has been guaranteed by the Constitution makers, innumerably, and even by this Court, is now being infringed,” he told the bench.

Alam stressed the scale of the detentions, claiming that between 6,000 and 7,000 people had been held. He also said three former chief ministers and several leaders of the Opposition were among those detained.

Woman lawyer tells SC she was detained during peaceful march

A woman lawyer told the Supreme Court that she and three others were detained by police while taking part in a peaceful march in Delhi on Saturday.

She said around 150 lawyers had gathered outside the chambers of MC Setalvad and had just begun walking when police intercepted them at a traffic signal. Four people, including three lawyers, were picked up and taken away in a police prison van.

The lawyer said she questioned the identity of a woman police personnel who was pushing her.

“You don't have a name. I don't know who you are. So I don't know whether you even belong to the Delhi Police,” she recalled telling the woman reported the Bar and Bench.

She said the group tried to explain that they were marching peacefully and had permission from the Supreme Court to do so. According to her, the march had only just begun when the detentions took place.

“We tried to tell them that we are marching peacefully, and the Supreme Court has given us permission. If there is any violence, then you could have taken action,” she told the court, bringing the incident to the bench’s attention.

Gopal Sankaranarayanan seeks removal of Delhi barricades, Metro curbs

Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan has urged the Supreme Court to order the immediate removal of barricades across Delhi, restore metro services and hold police personnel accountable for detentions and alleged violence during Saturday’s crackdown.

Sankaranarayanan told the bench that he was placing three issues before it, including restrictions on movement across the capital and the continued suspension of transport services.

“We are requesting Your Lordships to direct, as of today, without waiting for notices, enquiries, etc., we are requesting as of today that the free movement be completely restored, all these barricades across the entirety of Delhi be absolutely removed, and the metro stations be absolutely restored,” he said as quoted by the Bar and Bench.

He questioned the closure of 47 metro stations, saying the court had previously indicated that shutting 56 stations was excessive. He also said trains that had been stopped remained suspended despite assurances given to the court.

“47 were closed despite Your Lordships giving a direction that 56 is too many. They feel 47 is okay. That is not all right,” he said.

Sankaranarayanan also called for action against police personnel who allegedly operated without identification badges, saying the issue had been raised repeatedly since June.

“We hope that Your Lordships will direct that the police will be forbidden from doing this anymore and those who are responsible for it will be held accountable,” he told the bench.

Supreme Court order on detention pleas likely today or tomorrow

Justice Joymalya Bagchi said the Supreme Court would either pass an order on the pleas on Sunday or list them for Monday.

Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan told the bench that three lawyers, Dinesh Dwivedi, Uttara Babbar and Shadan Farasat, had been detained at different locations well outside the restricted perimeter around Jantar Mantar.

Sankaranarayanan said he had submitted screenshots from videos to the court and could provide the footage in a pen drive. He alleged that the lawyers were detained despite moving peacefully, with one picked up in Safdarjung and another while marching with lawyers outside the Supreme Court.

He also raised concerns over reports that Section 144 had been imposed outside the Supreme Court, calling the development “extremely shocking” and arguing that permission should have been sought from the court’s authorities.

Sankaranarayanan said the videos showed what he described as disproportionate police violence, arguing that the question of necessity had to be considered before proportionality.

“Necessity to detain individuals moving peacefully, unarmed, children, students, to beat them, hit them, kick them and have scuffles with them was completely and utterly uncalled for,” he told the bench as reported by the Bar and Bench.

He said the issue had been brought before the court for its consideration.

Senior advocate Shadan Farasat tells SC Delhi was ‘one step away from a police state’

Senior Advocate Shadan Farasat told the Supreme Court that he was manhandled by police during Saturday’s crackdown in Delhi, arguing that the issue extended beyond lawyers to the right of citizens to protest peacefully.

“I was also brutalised yesterday, along with a large number of lawyers,” Farasat told the court, adding that lawyers were not seeking any special rights but were part of the wider citizenry, reported the Bar and Bench. 

Describing the situation in Delhi, he said people were not even allowed to stand on the streets and alleged that police were picking people up and throwing them into vehicles.

“My specific instance was, I was thrown into a moving bus after being picked up. That is what happened to me,” he said.

Farasat stressed that the matter was not about individual lawyers but about citizens’ right to protest. He described the situation as deeply restrictive and said he believed the city had come close to a police state.

“The sense I got was that yesterday we were one step away from a police state,” he told the bench.

He urged the Supreme Court to intervene to restore the right to peaceful protest in the national capital, saying that right had been denied on Saturday.

“Yesterday, it was destroyed. That's the only thing,” Farasat said.

Kapil Sibal flags detentions, internet suspension in Supreme Court plea

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal told the Supreme Court that the detentions carried out on Saturday raised issues beyond those covered in the M A Baby case, as people were being picked up from trains and locations outside the four-kilometre zone around Jantar Mantar.

“This is an issue that is not in MA Baby's case, because it happened yesterday,” Sibal said, referring to the recent detentions, as quoted by the Bar and Bench.

Justice Joymalya Bagchi referred to the four-kilometre restriction around Jantar Mantar, saying the court would take up that issue next. He also referred to the suspension of internet services.

“There is a four-kilometre embargo from the centre of Jantar Mantar... So therefore, that's the next one. And then, the issue of the suspension of the internet,” Justice Bagchi said.

Sibal argued that both issues were covered by the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Anuradha Bhasin case.

“These are two matters. These two matters are covered by Anuradha Bhasin,” he said.