Contempt Plea in Supreme Court Over Delhi Transit Shutdown

Synopsis

The Supreme Court is being asked by Advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi to issue a contempt of court notice for the failure of the Delhi Metro to lift the ban on its operations despite the Court's directive in an earlier order on October 9, to not impose a blanket ban on Metro and train operations. A Bench presided by Chief Justice Surya Kant had dubbed the notifications as “overreaching”. The Centre had informed the Court that a former protest, that was allowed for a day, went on for 17 days.

On Saturday, a plea seeking contempt proceedings was filed in Supreme Court against the authorities for continuing to keep Delhi Metro stations closed in spite of the Court's direction issued on October 9. The petition states that the closure went on "in violation" of the order issued in another petition challenging the closure of 57 stations and cancellation of trains to Delhi.

The petitioner’s account

Taking charge of the situation, advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi claimed that gates at 45 metro stations in Delhi were found locked and he recorded the locked gates in GTB Nagar and Vishwavidyalaya stations around 9.30 pm on October 9. It appears the Court has yet to report the plea.

The Court's order

A Bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana directed the Centre to not introduce an absolute ban on Metro and train movement on October 10. The Bench noted the notifications as “overreaching”. The Court underlined that the safety measures should be proportionate, and should "not impose undue hardship" on commuters.

The Centre’s position

The petitioner, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, argued to the Court that an earlier protest that was allowed for one day, had gone on for 17 days. The Centre had to be reconsidered the restrictions and an alternative protest venue was sought.

Earlier precedent

The balance between protest and public order has been a topic before the Court previously. A Bench of Justices A.K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan in 2018 had said that while the police have the power to frame guidelines for protests, they cannot ban it; and they had also directed the re-opening of Jantar Mantar.