India, Oct. 14 -- The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that the October 10 protests against chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had an adverse impact on the lives of ordinary citizens, with ridership falling by nearly 45% as many commuters chose not to travel, even as all scheduled train services continued to operate.

In an affidavit filed, a day before the matter is scheduled to be heard, the DMRC said around 3.2 million passengers travelled on its network on October 10, against approximately 5.8 million on a normal second Saturday. It attributed the sharp decline to the protests, which it said appeared to have prompted people to forego their usual daily activities, including attending work o...