India, Oct. 15 -- The Centre and Delhi Police on Thursday told the Supreme Court that the decision to denotify Jantar Mantar as a protest site was not prompted by the court's October 9 observations on the need to identify alternative venues for demonstrations, but followed recommendations made by a committee constituted by the Union home ministry much earlier.

A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued notice to the authorities on a petition challenging the denotification, saying it would examine whether the decision followed primarily from the court's observations or was based on an independent assessment of the site's suitability.

"We are issuing notice and we will examine whether it was done...