Connaught Place restaurant owner moves Delhi High Court, seeks compensation for protest losses and a stop to CJP gathering

Jantar Mantar denotified, Central Park never designated: here’s the legal argument in a trader’s petition before the Delhi High Court

PGurus Newsdesk

October 16, 2026

“Not against the right to protest,” says the petition, but it wants October 10 losses assessed and recovered

The plea says Central Park was never designated as a protest site

A Connaught Place restaurant owner has approached the Delhi High Court, asking for compensation for business losses suffered during the October 10 protest and for an order stopping the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) from holding a gathering at Central Park on Friday.

What the court did

A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Nitin Vasudev Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma directed that the matter be listed along with other connected petitions. Advocate Umang Tyagi mentioned it before the bench. The plea was filed through advocates Umang Tyagi, Sanyam Dahiya and Zuber Ali.

Who the petitioner is

The petitioner, Aayush Chopra, says his family has run Minar Restaurant at Connaught Place since July 1, 2017, about 700 metres from Central Park. He says that on October 14, the CJP’s founder called on people to gather at Central Park at 5 pm on October 16.

What he is asking for

The plea seeks two reliefs. The first is a direction to the authorities not to grant permission for the gathering, and to prevent it along with any other unauthorised protest or assembly in the Connaught Place market. The second is that losses suffered by him and other affected people during the October 10 agitation be assessed, and that compensation be paid by those responsible.

His argument on the rules

The petition argues that the proposed gathering has no lawful basis. Protests around the Central Vista are regulated by a standing order of April 28, 2022, issued after a Supreme Court judgment. It named Jantar Mantar as the protest spot, required applications to the Deputy Commissioner of Police at least ten days ahead and restricted protests to 10 am to 5 pm.

Jantar Mantar was denotified on October 11, and three other venues were designated. According to the plea, Central Park has never been designated for protests, and no permission is reported to have been sought. It adds that the call was given only two days before the event, for 5 pm, and that a prohibitory order under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita is reportedly in force in the district.

Traders’ rights and the festive season

The plea says the gathering would badly hurt Connaught Place traders, whose rights under Articles 19(1)(g) and 21 stand on the same constitutional footing as the right to assemble. It notes that trade, hotels and restaurants account for more than one-ninth of Delhi’s economy and that the festive season, from Navratri to Diwali, is under way. Chopra says his restaurant has already seen a sharp drop in business, including during Navratri.

The losses claimed

According to the plea, when the CJP held a gathering at Jantar Mantar on October 10 despite being refused permission, the shops of Connaught Place stayed shut. The New Delhi Traders Association estimated that day’s loss at Rs 150 crore to Rs 200 crore for Connaught Place alone, while the Chamber of Trade and Industry estimated that business worth Rs 2,000 crore was affected across Delhi. These are estimates cited in the plea and have not been independently verified.

“Not against the right to protest”

The plea says it does not take away anyone’s right to protest. It points out that on October 9, the Supreme Court asked the competent authority to consider designating suitable alternative protest sites, and that three venues were designated on October 11. It also cites the Supreme Court’s view that the right to protest “cannot be anytime and everywhere.”

It adds that the Supreme Court has said the High Court can set up machinery to assess losses from a protest, with liability falling on the actual perpetrators and the event’s organisers. The traders, it says, have no other forum in which to recover the October 10 losses.

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