00:00Connaught Place on a Saturday, shops and offices will be shut.
00:06Usually Saturday, anyone who's been a Delhi resident or has been to Connaught Place would know it's always packed and
00:11definitely on a weekend.
00:12But all shop owners, office establishments in Connaught Place has been advised by the authorities that they will have to
00:21close the doors tomorrow.
00:23It's also looking at the critical situation around Connaught Place.
00:25The NDTA strictly advising all shops and establishments, including offices and restaurants in CPE, to stay vigilant.
00:33Close down as a precautionary safety measure.
00:36So, this is interesting, they can open, but looking at the situation and how developing it will be,
00:42all the establishment owners and occupiers are requested to cooperate with above directions to avoid any unpleasant situation.
00:48Save yourself from any loss of property and injury during expected protests.
00:54Anshul Singh on this.
00:56Anshul, is that in some way telling these establishments that if the protest turns violent,
01:03it's going to be on the properties as well.
01:05There could be loot, there could be attacks on you.
01:07Avoid that. Close it.
01:11Well, definitely, that is what it is seeming like.
01:13Like that, the Delhi police is trying to take all the precautionary measures
01:16so that lawlessness does not spread on the streets of Central Delhi yet again as to what happened on the
01:2220th of July.
01:23And that is the reason why all these precautionary measures are being taken.
01:27There is a likelihood that schools could also be asked to shut down.
01:31Officers have been asked to shut down in the entire district of New Delhi.
01:36Apart from that, as you rightly mentioned,
01:38Connaught Place, the heart of the national capital, has also been asked to stay shut as a precautionary measure.
01:43Because if things go out of hand, if the situation turns unruly,
01:47then definitely it is going to be very, very difficult for the Delhi police to also go ahead
01:51and ensure safety and security to these top owners as well.
01:54And hence, as a precautionary measure, the Delhi police have gone ahead.
01:57Anshul, I have to ask you this.
01:58The criticism here would be,
02:00how is the Delhi police closing down everything, locking down everything,
02:04everyone, irrespective of their ideology, have a right of democratic, peaceful protest?
02:10Well, definitely, there is a right, but that right has also some caveats.
02:15There are guidelines that have been given by nonetheless from the Supreme Court itself.
02:19Yes.
02:19If there is a collection in a protest of more than 500 people,
02:24then the protest side is not Jantar Mantar.
02:26It should be Ramdila Maidan.
02:28And for that, they do not need the permission of the Delhi police.
02:31They need the permission of the New Delhi Municipal Corporation.
02:33And this could have easily been done by the corporate Jantar Party,
02:37as they know that this is a guideline that has been given by the Supreme Court itself.
02:41But since Jantar Mantar is very close to the election commission,
02:44probably that is the reason why Jantar Mantar has been chosen as the location.
02:47Also, the recall memory of Jantar Mantar is more amongst the people.
02:51So that could be one of the strategies why CJP has decided to go ahead and give this dhana
02:56at Jantar Mantar, even after they knew that the Supreme Court guidelines actually suggest
03:00that this kind of large protest should happen at Ramdila Maidan and not at Jantar Mantar.
03:05And that is one of the reasons why the Delhi police have net them permission
03:08and has virtually gone ahead.
03:11Stay tuned, ladies and gentlemen, because I can assure you that
03:13it's not an off day for India Today colleagues.
03:15All of us are going to ensure to be tracking every detail from the police to the protesters
03:19on the ground, all the updates that are coming in about what does Delhi look like
03:25on a Saturday when it's almost a lockdown over a protest.
