NGT asks Delhi police to file compliance report on order banning protests at Jantar Mantar

New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal on Monday directed the Delhi Police to file a compliance report on its order to stop all protests and assembly of people at the Jantar Mantar area in the heart of the capital city. [caption id=“attachment_661” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Getty Images[/caption] The green panel had recently banned all protests and dharnas around the historic Jantar Mantar area here, which has been a hotspot of many agitations over the past decades, saying such activities violate environmental laws. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar on Monday sought a report on its order after the counsel for the Delhi Police informed it that the site had already been cleared and all make-shift and temporary structures had been removed from the stretch of the road. The green panel was hearing a plea filed by Delhi residents Harisimran Singh, Jaiver Singh and Zoravar Singh, seeking execution of the order of the NGT order. The plea, through advocate Riju Raj Jamwal, had alleged non-compliance of the tribunal’s order and sought action against the erring officials. In a detailed judgement, the tribunal had said the State “totally failed” to protect the right of citizens in the Jantar Mantar Road area to a pollution-free environment. It had said it was the duty of the State to ensure that the right of people to live a peaceful and comfortable life was not infringed by those who create noise pollution in the name of freedom of speech and expression, which can never be unlimited. The NGT had directed the authorities to shift the protesters, agitators and the people holding dharna (sit-ins) to the alternative site at the Ramleela Grounds in Ajmeri Gate, “forthwith” (without delay).