Contempt Notices, Internet Curbs and the Four-Km Zone: The Supreme Court’s Sunday Sitting on the Delhi Lockdown

In an “extraordinary, exceptional” special sitting on Sunday, 11 October 2026, a Supreme Court Bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana found a prima facie case of contempt and issued notices to Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar and DMRC chairperson D. Thara. The petition, by advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi, alleges violation of the Court’s 9 October direction that there be no complete prohibition on movement of Metro and trains on the day of the protest demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The Bench sought counter-affidavits and compliance reports by 13 October, ordered that there be no detention “save and except by procedure established by law” beyond the area where Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) operates (the four-km prohibitory zone of central Delhi that includes Jantar Mantar), asked the police to review barricades, keep Internet connectivity undisturbed and remove a prohibitory-order board outside the Court, all “subject to law and order”. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Court that entry and exit were restricted at 45 of 303 Delhi Metro stations on 10 October and that the Internet had been restored.