Ex-civil servant moves Delhi HC over CAPF deployment during protests

• Ashish Joshi challenges large-scale deployment of CAPFs for protest-related duties in Delhi.

• PIL seeks disclosure of deployment orders, personnel details and operational impact assessments.

• Joshi seeks safeguards against further extension beyond 16 November without a reasoned order.

Ahead of the INDIA bloc protest in Delhi on 1 November, former civil servant Ashish Joshi has moved Delhi High Court challenging the large-scale deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) in the capital to perform public order-related duties during protests.

The public interest litigation (PIL) seeks a declaration that an order or sanction deploying CAPFs in aid of civil power does not, by itself, authorise the dispersal of a peaceful assembly, the detention of anyone merely for participating in a protest, or the use of force.

Any coercive action, the plea states, must independently meet the applicable legal and constitutional requirements of necessity, proportionality and accountability.

'Reports have indicated that 301 companies were initially approved. 273 companies were extended until 31 October 2026. And further extension of 270 companies until 16 November 2026,' Joshi said in a post on X.

He said the PIL raises critical constitutional questions under Articles 14, 19 and 21 concerning the necessity, proportionality, duration and periodic review of such deployments, particularly in the context of peaceful democratic assembly.

Joshi said he had filed the petition before Delhi High Court, seeking judicial scrutiny of the legal and administrative basis for the large-scale deployment of CAPFs in Delhi for protest-related public order duties and the repeated extensions of their deployment.

Filed through lawyers Ambuj Dixit and Amrish Ranjan Pandey, the PIL seeks directions to the authorities to disclose details of requisitions made by the Delhi Police, along with the sanction and extension orders issued by the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA).

It also seeks 'reconciled, force-wise and date-wise' details of the companies approved for deployment, their sanctioned strength, the personnel mobilised to Delhi and those who reported for duty, as well as the number assigned to protest-related duties.

The petition further seeks details of assessments of the operational impact of the deployment on counter-insurgency operations, border security, election preparedness and disaster response. It also calls for a written protocol governing substantial CAPF deployments for protest-related duties.

Joshi has sought a direction that the deployment not be continued or extended beyond 16 November, except through a written, reasoned order based on a current assessment of the necessity for such deployment and subject to other safeguards.

Central Delhi has witnessed large protests by Opposition parties, student groups, civil society members and the Cockroach Janta Party since June-July this year. The demonstrations have been held over several issues, including concerns about the functioning of the Election Commission.

With PTI inputs