The Delhi High Court on Friday asked the Delhi Police to decide a plea filed by Delhi State unit of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) seeking permission to hold a peaceful protest at any alternate site other than Jantar Mantar on September 28, 29 and 30.

Justice Amit Mahajan directed the police to consider the request of the Bank Unions to hold the demonstration at an alternative site by Monday.

This was after the Delhi Police counsel said that there is an issue of law and order at Jantar Mantar, which was the primary request of the Bank Unions.

The decision has to be communicated to the counsel appearing for the Bank Unions by 4 PM on Monday.

The petition sought direction on the authorities to permit the proposed demonstrations at Jantar Mantar. In the alternative, the Union had sought permission to hold the protest at any other location in the national capital.

The Unions have contended that the right to peaceful assembly and holding demonstrations is protected under Articles 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(b) of the Constitution of India.

It alleged that the non-grant or delayed grant of permission by the authorities has infringed its fundamental rights.

According to the petition, the UFBU had submitted a request on August 27 seeking permission to hold a demonstration at Jantar Mantar on September 11.

It was claimed that the request was not received by the concerned authority, following which representations were made to police authorities at Ramleela Maidan, Rajendra Place and Dwarka.

The petition stated that the DCP, Dwarka subsequently refused permission for a demonstration at Sector 10, Dwarka on September 11, citing the BRICS Summit.

For the September 18 demonstration, the plea claimed that it submitted a request to the DCP, Parliament Street on September 01 but received no response for 17 days.

It stated that a rejection letter was ultimately handed over at around 10 PM on September 17, one day before the proposed demonstration.

The plea alleged that such delayed decisions prevented it from holding demonstrations on September 11 and September 18.

The demands of petitioner UFBU, which comprise of seven bank employees' and officers' unions, include implementation of a five-day working week in the banking industry, withdrawal or keeping in abeyance of the Government's Performance Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, modification of the scheme through bilateral discussions with unions and resolution of residual issues.

The strike programme, as per the plea, included a three-day all-India strike on September 28, 29 and 30, followed by a proposed indefinite strike from October 26.

Title: United Forum of Bank Unions Delhi State v. Union of India & Ors