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The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought the Centre's stand on two PILs filed seeking implementation of Supreme Court directions to regulate protests and prevent disruption to traffic and businesses.

The petitions were first mentioned before a Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Nitin Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma today morning.

One petition has been filed by a trader, while the other has been filed by advocate Rishabh Saxena.

Senior Advocate Sacchin Puri, appearing for the trader, submitted that protests were affecting business activities and sought interim directions to ensure that demonstrations are held at designated sites without affecting professionals and businesses.

As the Court was informed that similar matters are pending before the Supreme Court, the judges said they did not want to cover an issue already sub judice and asked the authorities to place their stand on record.

Saxena through his PIL seeks enforcement of the Supreme Court's judgments in Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan v. Union of India and Amit Sahni v. Commissioner of Police, along with Delhi Police Standing Order No. 10/2018, which lays down conditions for regulating protests.

The petition seeks a Standard Operating Procedure for traffic management during protests, including advance assessment of traffic impact, diversion plans, traffic personnel deployment and timely public advisories.

The petitioner has also cited an incident on October 12 when he encountered a gathering near the Mandi House roundabout and was allegedly delayed by around two hours.

The Court observed that the petitions are based on the Supreme Court's judgments and that the petitioners' grievance is essentially about implementation of those directions.

It thus directed the Respondent's counsel to take instructions in the matter.

The ASG said that the Centre would place on record its stand and material filed before the Supreme Court.

The matter will now be taken up on Friday.

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