Explained: What is a no-objection certificate for a political rally?

A no-objection certificate from the police says the police have no objection to an event.

It usually comes with conditions on timing, security and crowd management.

Delhi Police issued one for the Congress rally at Ramlila Maidan on November 1.

The certificate covers October 25 to November 3.

Police said they are coordinating on traffic and security.

Some reports say the certificate was issued after the party obtained confirmation from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi that the ground would be available for booking from October 25 to November 3, but National Herald does not mention this.

The rally is part of the INDIA bloc’s campaign against the special intensive revision, or SIR, of electoral rolls, according to the reports.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge announced the mega rally after a meeting of the INDIA bloc on September 30, according to National Herald.

Kharge also said the alliance had agreed that elections should be held with ballot papers instead of electronic voting machines, according to the same report.

Ramlila Maidan is one of three grounds in East Delhi named as designated protest sites after Jantar Mantar was de-notified, along with Burari Ground and CBD Ground, according to reports on October 12.

Some reports say the permission came after the police had refused permission to the Cockroach Janta Party for events at Jantar Mantar and Connaught Place. This comparison is made by those outlets and National Herald does not carry it.

Congress and other opposition parties have said the SIR leads to large-scale deletion of voters, which the Election Commission has not accepted in the reports reviewed.

The opposition leaders filed a petition in the Supreme Court on October 12, and on October 15 the court issued notice to the Election Commission, according to LiveLaw and ANI.

The Delhi Police had earlier registered FIRs over the October 12 march towards the Supreme Court, citing the lack of permission, according to The Tribune.

Ramlila Maidan, Delhi (file image from a past event), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0