Enlighten us on the prohibitory orders, preserve all CCTV footage: SC to Centre - On Thursday, the Supreme Court directed Union government to enlighten it about prohibitory orders slapped on Delhi that led to mass detentions, particularly journalists, lawyers and protesters, during October 10 demonstrations to demand resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
"We want to be enlightened about the prohibitory orders issued under Section 163 BNSS (Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023)," Justice Joymala Bagchi, part of two-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, said. Petitioners complained there cannot be Section 163 orders in contiguous areas, and these orders have not been made public.
"The prohibitory orders were a 'ghost' as of now," Justice Bagchi said, and court would bring them under constitutional scrutiny after government's response in affidavit. Court passed general order to authorities to preserve "all CCTV footage" concerning protest, including detention centres where people had been kept for hours.
Court issued notice to Kumar and two Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, to respond to petition filed by Opposition leaders led by Rahul Gandhi, for full disclosure of special intensive revision exercise records.
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Petition, represented by senior advocates K.M. Sibal, A.M. Singhvi and advocate Prasanna S., further sought independent probe into allegations that Kumar had acted in unilateral and arbitrary manner during massive exercise that has so far left about 13 crore people without power to vote.
Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas, present in crowded court room, intervened to narrate how he had been "pounced upon" by security personnel while addressing media on streets. He had written to Chief Justice about it, CJI asked him to file a petition.Bench directed Centre to explain denotification of Jantar Mantar on petition which said move meant to distance dissent away from power centres in national capital. But court refused to pass interim orders without first hearing from authorities, who said denotification was not based on Supreme Court order of October 9, but after getting expert opinion.
Court also issued notice to Centre, Delhi Police Commissioner, and Mr. Gandhi on petition filed by advocate Digant Mishra and others. They have sought suo motu criminal contempt action against Mr. Gandhi and other Opposition leaders for leading a "political procession" into Supreme Court precincts on October.
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Analytically, ghost order observation matters. Under BNSS 163 (erstwhile Section 144 CrPC), prohibitory order must be published, area-specific, time-bound, and must be reviewed. Delhi Police's October 10 order covering entire Central Delhi without publication violates 2020 Supreme Court facilitation doctrine. If CCTV preserved, it may show whether journalists were targeted.
For government, ghost order tag is embarrassment - policing by invisible ink.
Tags: #SupremeCourt #BNSS163 #ProhibitoryOrders #SIR #GyaneshKumar #CCTV #DelhiPolice #JantarMantar #RahulGandhi #CJI