Kapil Sibal Says Courts Offer No Hope Amid Protests Against Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar

Senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal stood before the media on Saturday looking weary, his voice tinged with frustration. He declared that, after months of filing petitions, he has “no hope” of getting any meaningful relief from the courts regarding the protests aimed at Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Speaking about the latest round of demonstrations slated for Jantar Mantar, Sibal complained that the administration had rolled out a slew of restrictive orders – from train cancellations to metro shutdowns and even internet throttling – all in the name of “preventing untoward incidents.” He questioned who exactly was under threat, noting that the police had announced the curbs days before the protest was to begin.

“The threat is not to society, it is to the administration,” he argued, pointing out that Section 163 of the law is being misused to silence dissent rather than to protect citizens. He recounted stories of protestors being picked up, taken to undisclosed locations, and their families left in the dark about their whereabouts.

According to Sival, the ruling party seems to feel personally imperiled. “If people from all over the country gather and raise even peaceful slogans, the whole nation will see it. That raises the perceived threat level, and suddenly the CEC has to resign, and who knows who else might have to step down,” he said, suggesting that the curbs serve the interests of the officials as much as the safety of the CEC.

He also highlighted the detention of two activists from the Cockroach Janata Party – Abhijeet Dipke and Ashutosh Ranka – who were seized from an aircraft, asking bluntly whether they were punished simply for wanting to protest peacefully.

The Supreme Court had, just a day earlier, heard an urgent plea challenging the Delhi restrictions. Sibal, representing CPI(M) general secretary M.A. Baby, urged the apex court to act quickly, asking, “What is happening to my country?” and calling the curbs “a direct attack on democratic rights.”

Meanwhile, Delhi police said roughly a thousand protesters have already been detained while trying to reach Jantar Mantar. The atmosphere in the capital remains tense, with activists, legal experts, and ordinary citizens watching closely to see whether the Supreme Court will step in.