“How can you enter the house of this man?” the Delhi High Court asked the police in the Nadeem Khan Delhi High Court hearing, observing that refusing permission for a protest is the police’s prerogative but that a person cannot be confined. The police said Khan was not detained, only stopped. Both positions are untested.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!
New Delhi: Hearing activist Nadeem Khan‘s plea against the blanket ban on protests around Jantar Mantar and in the New Delhi district, the Delhi High Court on Monday questioned the Delhi Police over his alleged stopping from going to Jantar Mantar to join a protest on September 29. [Nadeem Khan v. Delhi Police]
A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Nitin Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma heard the plea.
Questions From The Bench
The judges wanted to know how the police could enter the activist’s house and on what cause they had confined him. The Court said:
How can you enter the house of this man… Where are your cause to confine him?
Refusing permission for a protest, the Court observed, is for the police to decide; confining a person is not.
ALSO READ: Delhi High Court: Nadeem Khan Challenges Alleged Detention And Police Ban On Jantar Mantar Protests
Stopped, Not Detained
The Delhi Police told the Court that Khan was not detained and had merely been stopped from going to Jantar Mantar.
What Khan Alleges
Khan’s petition alleges that officers of the Shaheen Bagh Police Station confined him at the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind headquarters in Abul Fazal Enclave from about 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM on September 29, to keep him from a peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar. He asks for a declaration that the alleged preventive detention is illegal, compensation, a time-bound inquiry into the officers’ conduct, and quashing of a prohibitory order for the New Delhi district to the extent that it bars peaceful assembly and protests at Jantar Mantar without prior written permission.
His case is that the blanket restriction violates Articles 19(1)(a), 19(1)(b), 14 and 21 of the Constitution. These are the petitioner’s allegations and contentions, and they are untested.
Where Matters Stand
The Court has expressed no view on the merits of the petition or on the allegations, and the Delhi Police’s stand that Khan was not detained is equally untested. The petition against the ban remains pending.
Case Details: Nadeem Khan v. Delhi Police | Court: Delhi High Court | Bench: Acting Chief Justice Nitin Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma | Heard: October 12, 2026 | Status: Pending; no final order reported. Case number not reported.
Appearances: Advocate Shahrukh Alam mentioned the matter for the petitioner on October 9, 2026; the plea was filed through Advocates Chinmay Kanojia, Archit Krishna, Tamanna Pankaj and Priya Vats. Counsel for the Delhi Police not reported.