The Jharkhand High Court has instructed the state’s Director General of Police, Anurag Gupta, to provide a copy of the standard operating procedure for handling protests and demonstrations in Ranchi.
This directive was issued by a division bench consisting of Acting Chief Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Arun Kumar Rai during a hearing related to public interest litigation on traffic disruptions in the city.
The court emphasized the need for maintaining law and order, stating that “law and order should be maintained for good governance.” It further stressed that while demonstrations are allowed, public safety should not be compromised.
The bench observed, “The society should be protected from the mob of demonstrators, there should be fear in their minds of the police and the action that can be taken against them if they go out of hand.”
The court highlighted that since the authorities are often aware of upcoming protests, they have enough time to prepare. It suggested confining protests to specific areas and creating alternative traffic routes to minimize inconvenience to the public.
The case is scheduled for further hearing on September 20.
This comes after Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi, frustrated by poor traffic management in Ranchi, summoned the DGP and other top officials to court on August 27. Justice Dwivedi had himself been stuck in traffic for a long time on August 23 during a BJP-led “Jan Aakrosh” rally near the Chief Minister’s residence.
As a result, he referred the matter to Acting Chief Justice Prasad to be treated as a public interest litigation on traffic issues in Ranchi.
