India's Supreme Court is set to convene a special Sunday hearing to address a contempt petition filed against senior government and transport officials. The plea alleges wilful disobedience of judicial orders that prohibited a complete shutdown of public transport during recent "Cockroach Janta Party" (CJP) protests in the national capital.
The contempt proceedings specifically target Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar, and DMRC Chairperson D Thara. Filed by advocate Chand Qureshi, the petition asserts that despite explicit court directives, 45 Delhi Metro stations remained closed, as previously announced by authorities. The legal challenge argues this action constitutes a "brutal assault on the fundamental rights of the citizens" and a "sheer disregard" for the court's authority.
Court's Previous Directives
The Supreme Court had, on October 9, reminded authorities that any restrictions imposed must consider commuters traveling into Delhi from National Capital Region (NCR) towns. The court had explicitly stated that officials "cannot bring everything to a halt" and mandated that transport agencies implement proportionate regulation rather than outright prohibitions on metro and train networks. Compliance reports were required within four days, stemming from earlier rulings that instructed corrective measures regarding proposed road and station gate closures.
Parallel Petition on Political Detentions
In a related development, a parallel petition will also be heard on the same Sunday. This plea, filed by TMC MP Menaka Guruswamy, raises serious concerns over widespread political detentions. Guruswamy challenged the preventive actions taken by security forces, arguing that "such preventive detentions cannot be used to suppress the fundamental right to peaceful protest, particularly against leaders who have previously governed States."
These detentions occurred on October 10, when police enforced strict barricading and detained several prominent opposition figures, including Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee, Pinarayi Vijayan, and Manik Sarkar. The actions were taken to prevent a demonstration organized by the CJP at Jantar Mantar, which aimed to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged electoral roll irregularities.