The Right To Protest Under Articles 19(1)(A) & 19(1)(B) Of The Constitution Of India:
- IJLLR Journal
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The Right To Protest Under Articles 19(1)(A) & 19(1)(B) Of The Constitution Of India: A Constitutional Analysis Of State Regulation Of Public Assembly, With The 2026 Student Protests At Jantar Mantar As A Case Study
Sushant Singh, University School of Law & Legal Studies, GGSIPU, New Delhi, India.
ABSTRACT
Public assemblies occupy a paradoxical position in Indian constitutional law. In principle, they are celebrated as a vital expression of democratic self- governance and an essential means for citizens to hold power to account. In practice, however, they are routinely hemmed in by a complex web of prior permissions, designated protest zones, prohibitory orders, and preventive policing tactics. This paper examines whether this regulatory framework, as it operates today, truly aligns with the fundamental guarantees of freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) and the right to peaceful assembly under Article 19(1)(b) of the Constitution of India, read alongside the permissible restrictions in Articles 19(2) and 19(3).
The problem is of continuing importance because the mechanisms used to regulate protest such as licensing under police enactments, prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, and ad hoc barricading trace their origins to a colonial administrative model focused primarily on maintaining order rather than fostering democratic dissent. These mechanisms have not been fully modernized to reflect the Supreme Court’s evolving emphasis on proportionality, necessity, and procedural fairness.
The study adopts a doctrinal methodology, drawing on the constitutional text, the Constituent Assembly Debates, statutory provisions governing policing and preventive action, and the trajectory of Supreme Court and High Court decisions. It treats the 2026 student-led demonstrations at Jantar Mantar, precipitated by grievances over examination integrity and unemployment, and marked by an initial grant of permission, a subsequent denial of permission for a march to Parliament, extensive barricading, and the removal of a hunger-striking protester as a case study through which to test the operative content of constitutional doctrine, rather than as the primary object of inquiry.
The paper finds that while the regulated-access framework established by the Supreme Court has moved Indian law away from blanket prohibition, the persistence of undefined administrative discretion, the absence of a dedicated statutory code for assembly regulation, and inconsistent judicial insistence on reasoned, time-bound orders leave the right vulnerable to erosion through informal and unreviewed executive action.
Keywords: Right to Protest, Articles 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(b), Reasonable Restrictions, Proportionality Doctrine, Public Order, Jantar Mantar Protests, Executive Regulation of Assemblies, Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Constitutional Democracy and Dissent.
