The CJP demonstration comes amid allegations of a police crackdown on anti-SIR protesters, with party leader Abhijeet Dipke claiming that students, activists and opposition leaders have been targeted.
BY PC Bureau
October 15: The Delhi High Court on Thursday declined to prohibit the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), led by Abhijeet Dipke, from holding a protest at Central Park in Connaught Place on Friday, October 16, leaving it to the Delhi Police to regulate the gathering in accordance with the law.
A bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma recorded the police’s assurance that all necessary measures would be taken to manage and control the protest.
The court was hearing a petition filed by a licensed street vendor who argued that the demonstration could disrupt business and inconvenience traders and vendors in central Delhi during the Dussehra weekend. The petitioner sought directions to the police to regulate the gathering in accordance with Supreme Court guidelines.
READ: Beat Up Protesters, Shut Down Delhi, Then Apologise: Govt’s Affidavit Raises Questions
Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, appearing for the authorities, informed the bench that steps had already been taken to manage the proposed gathering. The court declined to grant the requested restraint.
The proposed demonstration comes six days after Delhi Police detained hundreds of people who attempted to reach the Jantar Mantar area near Connaught Place on October 10 in response to an earlier CJP call against alleged electoral fraud.
Protests by the Congress-led INDIA bloc over the same issue have also taken place in the capital. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has announced that it will join Friday’s demonstration, while Dipke has urged participants to carry the national flag.
Dipke alleges crackdown to protect CEC
At a press conference on Thursday, Dipke alleged that students, youth activists and opposition leaders had been detained over the preceding 10 to 15 days. He named Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi and former chief ministers Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal and Pinarayi Vijayan among those he said had faced detention.
Dipke linked the police action to efforts to protect Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar amid mounting criticism of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. His allegations could not be independently established from the information available.
He also said CJP members Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka remained in jail on trespass charges following an incident earlier in the week in which they allegedly raised the national flag at Jantar Mantar. Dipke pointed out that the site had been denotified as a protest venue following the October 10 demonstration.
STORY | Delhi HC refuses to stop CJP’s October 16 protest at Connaught Place
The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to restrain the CJP and its founder Abhijeet Dipke from holding a protest at the Connaught Place Central Park on October 16, even as it took on record the police’s assurance that all possible steps would be taken to regulate and control their activity.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma was hearing a plea by a Connaught Place vendor seeking a direction to the police to regulate the protest as per the existing law laid down by the Supreme Court.
The petitioner’s senior counsel submitted that traders and vendors would be “on the streets” if they lost another weekend to closures due to protest in central Delhi during the festive season.
Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma submitted that steps have been taken to control the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)’s activities and assured that the apprehension of the petitioner would be taken care of.
The court took the assurance on record.
READ: https://t.co/33ag0hKd2I
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 15, 2026
Journalist assaulted during protests, alleges activist
AISA activist Neha Bora alleged that journalists covering the protests had been beaten, dragged away and detained for hours despite carrying press credentials. She also alleged that police personnel had seized their cameras.
The allegations have added to concerns over restrictions on protest and press freedom during the police response to demonstrations against the SIR exercise.
Supreme Court takes up electoral roll challenge
Separately, the Supreme Court on Thursday issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the two Election Commissioners on petitions filed by Rahul Gandhi and other INDIA bloc leaders challenging alleged voter deletions and irregularities in the SIR process.
The proceedings also brought renewed scrutiny to the INDIA bloc’s October 12 march from Barakhamba Road towards the Supreme Court.
Referring to the march, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant remarked that “nobody can browbeat the judiciary”. The Court also issued notices to Gandhi, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and others on a separate plea challenging the march, and directed that CCTV footage from the court premises be preserved.
With the High Court allowing Friday’s CJP demonstration to proceed subject to police regulation, the proposed gathering is set to take place against the backdrop of continuing political protests, legal challenges to the SIR exercise and judicial scrutiny of the authorities’ handling of demonstrations in the capital.
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