'Let Things Cool Down Further': Delhi High Court Adjourns PIL Against Surveillance Of Protesters At Jantar Mantar

The Delhi High Court on Monday said that it will hear tomorrow a public interest litigation alleging "continuous surveillance" of peaceful protesters during their agitation against NEET paper leak, at Jantar Mantar.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia told the petitioner to “let things cool down further” and that a better petition can be filed in the matter.

ASG Chetan Sharma appearing for the Union Government said that there is no surveillance now as the protest has ended and that prayers have become infructuous.

Senior Advocate Nandita Rao appearing for the petitioner however argued that the prayers were still alive and that they were seeking a declaration that the surveillance that happened was illegal.

On this the Court remarked: “In a better petition, you can file it later. You can make prayer of guidelines. Whatever mechanism is there with them they will put on record and we will pass orders.”

As the ASG said that there cannot be a publicity interest litigation, the Bench said:

“Better file a petition where we can examine what provisions are there in place. If they are adequate, not adequate. This petition as we understand was confined to a particular aspect. Things have cooled down, let them cool down further.”

As Rao said that the State cannot indulge in any surveillance, the Court said it will hear the matter tomorrow. 

The PIL has been filed by former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) president Aishe Ghosh, who has alleged that peaceful protesters at Jantar Mantar have been subjected to continuous photography, videography and monitoring by the police.

According to the petition, since the commencement of the Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) sit-in protest and hunger strike at Jantar Mantar on June 20, protesters were under round-the-clock watch through a permanent surveillance tower installed at the protest site.

It alleges that the monitoring encompasses not only acts of protest but also ordinary daily activities such as eating, resting and seeking medical assistance.

The petition further alleges that the surveillance apparatus has been used as an instrument of intimidation against student protesters.

The plea argues that the threatened use of surveillance material to identify and expose student protesters transforms the exercise from passive monitoring into an instrument of coercion and suppression of democratic dissent, thereby chilling the exercise of rights guaranteed under Articles 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(b) of the Constitution.

The petition also raises concerns regarding women protesters, alleging that during heavy rainfall, women who remained at the protest site in drenched clothes due to inadequate shelter continued to be photographed and videographed by police personnel, amounting to a serious invasion of bodily privacy and dignity.

Earlier, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Union Government had told the Court that "every protest is videographed" as a routine law-and-order measure and that a "claim of privacy in a public place is ironical."

Title: MS. AISHE GHOSH v. UNION OF INDIA & ANR