New Delhi, July 23: The Supreme Court on Monday said there cannot be a blanket ban on protests at iconic Jantar Mantar and Boat Club in the national capital. The apex court said people can hold peaceful protests and asked Delhi Police to frame guidlines in two months.

Emphasising on the need to balance between the right to protest and the security considerations, a bench of Justice A K Sikri and Justice Ashok Bhushan said that the Delhi Police will have to frame guidelines to regulate protests at both spots.

The court ruling came while hearing a plea by NGO Majdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan and the Indian Ex-Servicemen's Movement and others challenging the perennial imposition of prohibitory orders in the central Delhi area wherein all important government offices including Parliament House is located.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on October 5 had ordered a stop to all protests, public gatherings and use of loudspeakers at Delhi's designated protest site Jantar Mantar, and asked authorities to remove all makeshift or permanent structures from the area.

The order came following a 2016 application of the permanent residents of the Jantar Mantar Road complaining that they had been suffering since years as the area -- the stretch between Ashoka Road and Parliament Street -- has become a "symbolic, protest battle ground".

The NGT had directed all protests should now be held at Ram Leela Maidan in Ajmeri Gate.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 23, 2018 11:21 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).