Priors
Precedents

India Against Corruption fast and Anna Hazare arrest

15 Aug 2011 – Aug 2011, Delhi

On 15 August 2011 Delhi Police refused permission for Anna Hazare's indefinite fast for a Jan Lokpal Bill at JP Park and imposed prohibitory orders there. On 16 August police arrested Hazare hours before the fast was to begin. He refused to give a personal bond and stayed in Tihar Jail for three nights while police and his team negotiated the terms of a fast. He left Tihar on 19 August under an agreement that allowed a fast at Ramlila Maidan.

Draft. Written with AI help from the sources listed. Not yet checked by a person. 4 claims are held back until sourced. Report an error

In power
INC: Delhi Police

What the government did

  1. 15 Aug 2011

    Permission deniedPolice, DelhiShare

    India Against Corruption applied to Delhi Police on 2 August for a month-long fast from 16 August.

    MoreLess · 3 sources

    On 13 August police said permission would be granted at JP Park subject to conditions and an undertaking to abide by them. On 15 August the organisers refused six of the conditions, including a three-day limit, and police refused permission, according to the Prime Minister's statement to Parliament. Home Minister P. Chidambaram said the organisers would not guarantee to limit the protest to 5,000 people and three days. Arun Jaitley told the Rajya Sabha that 22 conditions had been imposed

    • 6 conditions the organisers refused to accept, said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (statement to Parliament) [5]
    • 22 conditions imposed on the protest, said Arun Jaitley, Leader of the Opposition (Rajya Sabha) [6]

    Sources [5][6][3]

  2. 15 Aug 2011

    Section 144 / 163Police, DelhiShare

    Prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC were imposed on 15 August in and around JP Park and some other areas, according to the Prime Minister's statement.

    MoreLess · 3 sources

    Governance Now reported on 16 August that police had sealed the park under Section 144 and taken supporters who tried to enter it to Chhatrasal Stadium

    Legal basis: Section 144 CrPC

    Sources [5][6][10]

  3. 16 Aug 2011

    Preventive arrestPolice, DelhiShare

    Police arrested Hazare in the morning outside a flat in Mayur Vihar, East Delhi, before he could go to JP Park.

    MoreLess · 4 sources

    The Prime Minister said Hazare and six others were arrested as a preventive measure under Sections 151 and 107 CrPC because police concluded they would defy the prohibitory orders. A magistrate offered release on personal bonds with an undertaking not to violate the orders; Hazare refused and was remanded to seven days' judicial custody in Tihar Jail. That evening Delhi Police asked the magistrate to review the order, and he ordered the release at about 7 pm, according to the Prime Minister. Hazare refused to leave the jail without permission to fast at JP Park without conditions

    Legal basis: Sections 107 and 151 CrPC

    Sources [5][6][7][10]

  4. 16 Aug 2011

    DetentionPolice, DelhiShare

    Supporters who went to JP Park and other places under prohibitory orders were detained through the day, many of them taken by bus to Chhatrasal Stadium, which was used as a holding site.

    MoreLess · 6 sources

    The Prime Minister said all of them were released that evening. Counts of those detained differ

    Legal basis: Section 144 CrPC (detained in areas under prohibitory orders, as stated by the Prime Minister); Section 65 of the Delhi Police Act for Kiran Bedi and Shanti Bhushan, per The Tribune

    • about 2,603 persons detained in Delhi when going to or in areas under prohibitory orders, all released that evening, said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (statement to Parliament) [5]
    • around 1,500 persons detained, said Delhi Police (as reported by The Tribune) [7]
    • more than 3,000 persons who courted arrest during the day, said The Tribune (estimate) [7]
    • more than 2,000 supporters brought to Chhatrasal Stadium by 10 am, said Governance Now (reporter at the scene) [10]
    • about 1,700 supporters held at Chhatrasal Stadium on the evening of 16 August, said Outlook (reporters held at the stadium) [11]
    • about 1,500 followers detained for defying the police order and later released, said Al Jazeera [3]

    Sources [5][7][10][11][1][3]

Outcome

Hazare left Tihar on 19 August 2011 and began a public fast at Ramlila Maidan with police permission.

Background

Who governed at the start of the protest. Each action above counts for the party in power where and when it happened.

Centre government
INCUPA, Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister
State government
INC in Delhi, Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister
Places
JP Park, Tihar Jail, Ramlila Maidan, Chhatrasal Stadium
Cause
Demand for a Jan Lokpal Bill against corruption
Organisers
India Against Corruption
Scale
Several thousand outside Tihar; candlelight marches at India Gate; protests in many cities

What they said

Words in quote marks were matched in the source. Everything else is a summary; open the source for the exact words. Each statement says whether the speaker's party was in power or in opposition at the time.

In power

“However, the path that he has chosen to impose his draft of a Bill upon Parliament is totally misconceived and fraught with grave consequences for our Parliamentary democracy.”

At Paragraph 13

In opposition

“It is this right to protest and this right to dissent which your Government is trying to scuttle and we are all here to oppose that.”

At Reply of the Leader of the Opposition to the Prime Minister's statement, paragraph beginning 'SHRI ARUN JAITLEY: ...and all that we are'

BJPArun Jaitley, Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha17 Aug 2011[6][3]

In opposition

“The Manmohan Singh government has attacked the democratic right to conduct peaceful protest with the ban on the hunger strike and the arrest of Anna Hazare and his supporters in Delhi.”

At First paragraph of the statement

Sources

  1. 1Deadlock as Anna stays put in TiharThe Tribune, Sandeep Yadav, 18 Aug 2011T4 ReportArchived 1 Jul 2018
  2. 2Indian activist set for public hunger strikeAl Jazeera, 19 Aug 2011T5 SecondaryArchived 14 May 2025
  3. 3Rallies grow across India for jailed activistAl Jazeera, 17 Aug 2011T5 SecondaryArchived 17 May 2025
  4. 4Hazare effect: Non-UPA parties join ranksPTI via Oneindia, 16 Aug 2011T5 Secondary
  5. 5Statement by Prime Minister in the Lok SabhaPress Information Bureau (Prime Minister's Office), 17 Aug 2011T1 Record
  6. 6Rajya Sabha Official Report, Vol. 223 No. 12: Statement by Prime Minister on the situation arising out of the agitation launched by Shri Anna Hazare, and discussionRajya Sabha Secretariat, 17 Aug 2011T1 RecordArchived 22 Apr 2024
  7. 7Government flip-flops, Anna stands firmThe Tribune, Sandeep Yadav, 17 Aug 2011T4 ReportArchived 3 Jul 2018
  8. 8'Release Anna' chorus unites OppositionThe Tribune, Faraz Ahmad and Aditi Tandon, 17 Aug 2011T4 ReportArchived 14 Oct 2012
  9. 9Govt climbs down, lets Hazare have his wayThe Tribune, Sandeep Yadav, 19 Aug 2011T4 ReportArchived 19 Nov 2019
  10. 10Witnessing the August 16 uprisingGovernance Now, Danish Raza, 17 Aug 2011T4 ReportArchived 1 Aug 2016
  11. 11My Illegal DetentionOutlook, Sunit Arora, 18 Aug 2011T4 Report
  12. 12Protest Attack on Democratic RightsCommunist Party of India (Marxist), 16 Aug 2011T1 RecordArchived 19 May 2024

Similar precedents

Faded actions are ones this precedent does not share.

2011Ramlila Maidan midnight police action on Baba Ramdev's campINC: Delhi Police, CentreBaba Ramdev's Bharat Swabhiman Trust held a permitted yoga camp at Ramlila Maidan from 1 June 2011 and turned it into a fast against black money on 4 June. Late that night Delhi Police withdrew the permission, imposed a Section 144 order and cleared the ground after midnight with tear gas; one participant, Rajbala, later died of her injuries. The Supreme Court took suo motu notice and in February 2012 found that the action suffered from arbitrariness and, to some extent, abuse of power, and ordered compensation and action against police personnel. Permission grantedNegotiationPermission deniedSection 144 / 163Tear gasLathi chargeDetentionOther2012December 2012 Delhi gang-rape protestsINC: Delhi Police, CentreAfter the gang rape of a physiotherapy student on a Delhi bus on 16 December 2012, crowds gathered at India Gate and Raisina Hill. On 22 and 23 December police used water cannon, tear gas and lathis, imposed Section 144 and closed central metro stations and roads. A police constable deployed at India Gate died on 25 December; the cause of his death was disputed. The Union government set up the Justice Verma Committee on 23 December to recommend changes to criminal law on sexual assault. Tear gasSection 144 / 163Lathi chargeBarricadingDetentionCommission of inquiry2024–26Ladakh statehood protests and Sonam Wangchuk's detention, 2024-2026BJP: Delhi Police, Ladakh (run by the Centre), Ladakh Police, CentreGroups in Ladakh, including the Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance, demanded statehood and Sixth Schedule safeguards for the Union Territory. In September-October 2024 climate activist Sonam Wangchuk led a march from Ladakh to Delhi; Delhi Police detained him and about 120 others at the Singhu border and later refused permission for a protest at Jantar Mantar. On 24 September 2025 a protest in Leh turned violent: the BJP office was set on fire and four people died in firing by security forces (early counts ranged from three to five). A curfew and mobile internet shutdown followed, and on 26 September 2025 Wangchuk was detained under the National Security Act and moved to Jodhpur jail. The Centre revoked the detention on 14 March 2026. Section 144 / 163DetentionPermission deniedFiringCurfewInternet shutdownNSA detentionOtherConcessionNegotiation

Entry last updated 15 Oct 2026. Something wrong or missing? Edit content/precedents/india-against-corruption-2011.yaml