Supreme Court sees prima facie contempt in Delhi metro shutdown case

The Supreme Court issued notices over alleged defiance of its order against a complete Delhi transit shutdown during the CJP protest. The move puts the Centre, Delhi Police and DMRC under scrutiny over citizens' mobility rights and court compliance.

In Short

• Bench sought counter-affidavits and a compliance report by October 13, 2026
• Personal appearance of the officials was exempted for the present
• Petitioners called the transport restrictions a brutal assault on citizens' rights

The Supreme Court on Sunday said petitioners alleging violation of its direction against any complete halt of metro and train services in Delhi during a CJP protest had made out a "prima-facie" case. During a special hearing, a bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana issued notices to Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar and DMRC Chairperson D Thara.

The bench asked the alleged contemnors to file counter-affidavits, along with a compliance report on the court's earlier order, by October 13, 2026. It said, "Having considered the submissions of the counsel for the parties and perused the averments in the contempt petition, we are of the opinion that the petitioners have made out a prima-facie case. Accordingly, we issue notice upon the alleged contemnors." The court added that their personal presence was dispensed with for now.

One of the pleas, filed by advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi, alleged that the actions of the authorities amounted to a "brutal assault on the fundamental rights of citizens" and showed "sheer disregard" for the court's orders. The plea said this was a deliberate and intentional act by the Delhi Metro, the Delhi Police and the Union government, and "it must be dealt with an iron hand".

The contempt petition referred to the Supreme Court's October 9 order, passed while hearing a separate plea against the closure of 57 metro stations and the cancellation of trains to Delhi because of the protest. The protest call had been given by the Cockroach Janta Party and some student organisations against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the functioning of the Election Commission.

While hearing the matter on Friday, a bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Bagchi and Mohana had directed the Centre to ensure there was no "complete prohibition" on the movement of metros and trains coming to Delhi on October 10 because of the protest. The court had said that while law-enforcement agencies were entitled to take steps to restrain unruly movement, citizens should not be unduly harassed and everything could not be brought to a halt.

The contempt plea said that despite the court's direction and the assurance recorded before it, the authorities had "consciously maintained a blanket shutdown across transit corridors, persisted with unwarranted train cancellations, and failed to issue or publicise transparent traffic and transit advisories". The Delhi Metro, meanwhile, had closed 45 stations from 9 pm on Friday till 6 pm on Saturday for security reasons, according to an advisory.

The case now centres on whether the authorities complied with the Supreme Court's direction to avoid a complete shutdown of Delhi's metro and train services during the protest, with the court seeking responses and a compliance report by October 13, 2026.

- Ends