The Supreme Court on Monday (August 31, 2026) refused to halt a protest march announced by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on September 5 in the national capital, ahead of the BRICS Summit, saying there was no “compelling circumstance” to presume any untoward incident would happen.

Days before the BRICS Summit on September 12-13, the CJP has decided to hit the streets again, saying the Centre had not lived up to its assurances, which included the immediate withdrawal of police cases and First Information Reports (FIRs) against students following the earlier National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) protests.

Later in the day, as the three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant was about to rise, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta made an oral mentioning of a separate application filed by the Centre, urging the apex court to invoke Article 142 of the Constitution regarding the quashing of FIRs linked to the NEET-UG protests.

Mr.

Mehta pushed for a hearing on September 1 itself.

AISA backs CJP's September 5 Delhi march; seeks withdrawal of FIRs, probe into pellet firing “I want to move an application with some urgency.

This is regarding the protests, of quashing of FIRs...

We are requesting invocation of Article 142,” Mr.

Mehta said.

Chief Justice Kant agreed to list the application on September 1.

“If parties are reconciling, we have no difficulties,” he said.

Earlier in the day, the same three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice Kant was hearing an application filed by a retired police officer, who objected to the announcement of the September 5 protest march.

Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Rizwain Ahmed said that, to the best of his knowledge, the CJP had not sought permission from either the police or the courts; the decision to march had been announced on social media.

National interest would be served better if the CJP postponed the march by another 10 days, to September 15, the petitioner, Rajendra Singh, said.

“International dignitaries are coming to the capital on September 12 and 13.

What happened at the AI Summit recently?

People stripped and danced… Can’t the CJP wait for 10 days, till September 15, to allow the BRICS Summit to be held unhindered?” the petitioner’s counsel asked.

“There are no compelling circumstances for us to presume that anything wrong would happen.

Everybody will conduct themselves in a peaceful, lawful and reasonable manner… It is the responsibility of the Union government and the Delhi Police to maintain law and order.

They will say what is illegal or permissive,” the CJI responded.

The court expected both sides, those who wish to march, and the police, to respect and honour the laws of the land, the Chief Justice said.

“Everybody should follow the law, the regulatory measures, and respect each others’ rights,” Chief Justice Kant observed orally.

The court instructed Mr.

Ahmed to provide the Solicitor General’s office with a copy of his application.

The Bench said it would tag the application with the main batch of petitions on the NEET-UG protests, scheduled to be listed on September 10.

It gave the counsel liberty to mention, in case of any urgency in the interregnum.

Ahmed stridently urged the court to allow him to bring up the application on September 3, ahead of the proposed CJP march.

He asked, repeatedly, whether “we can expose the capital to such anarchy at the doors of the BRICS Summit… They have tasted blood”.

“History may not forgive leniency in this situation,” the counsel pressed on.

The CJI referred to the lack of an organisational front or an entity to which the court could issue notice in order to hear their side.

The CJP is known to be a mass movement.

However, the Chief Justice asked Mr.

Ahmed to persuade the government and the Delhi Police.

“They have the duty to maintain law and order,” Chief Justice Kant said.