New Delhi, Nov. 3 -- The Delhi Police has told the Supreme Court that its decision to denotify Jantar Mantar as a designated protest venue was based primarily on the recommendations of a Ministry of Home Affairs committee and was taken after considering the changed ground situation, including traffic obstruction, crowd management and the impact of protests on residents, government offices and emergency services.

In a counter-affidavit in journalist Swaty Singh's plea challenging the denotification, Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar said it was incorrect to suggest that Jantar Mantar was denotified pursuant to the Supreme Court's October 9 order in the M.A. Baby case.

The police said the proposal to change the notified protest venue...