New Delhi, Oct. 10 -- The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Centre and Delhi Police to lift blanket restrictions on metro and railway services ahead of Saturday's proposed protests in Delhi, making it clear that security measures cannot amount to a complete prohibition on public transport and inconvenience millions of ordinary residents. A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, said that authorities could regulate the movement of trains to prevent unlawful gatherings but could not bring the entire system to a halt. It stressed that the right of Delhi's residents to access public facilities and move freely also required protection. "Stopping something and regulating are two different concepts. One can regulate but it is completely different to put a halt on everything.you cannot stop everything," observed the bench. "You will not use a hammer to kill a fly," said the court, explaining that the authorities must adopt measures commensurate with the situation rather than impose sweeping restrictions. "Since the organisers are not before us, the limited issue before the court is whether the complete stoppage of metro and rails requires reconsideration. Upon our suggestion that there is a distinction between complete prohibition and regulation of metro and rails, learned solicitor general has fairly agreed to reconsider the prohibition and allow the movement of metro trains and other trains in such a regulated manner so that no inconvenience is caused to the citizenry of residents of Delhi, while keeping in mind the principle of proportionality," the court said in its order. The order added: "In terms of the assurance, we direct that a considered decision shall be taken to allow movements of metro and other trains so that no inconvenience is caused to the people and wide publicity is also given. Similarly, revised advisories be published so that no hardship is caused to the public while commuting in the city." "Our concern is not with respect to organisers or protesters. Our concern is about hundreds of thousands of people, coming from Greater Noida, South Delhi or livelihood.including students, those going to work," the bench told Mehta, underlining that the restrictions affected people who had nothing to do with the demonstration. "We are talking about common citizenry of the national capital," it said, adding that not everyone had a car or access to private transport. The court passed the order after solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and Delhi Police, agreed to reconsider the restrictions in response to the bench's concerns over their proportionality. It directed that a considered decision be taken to allow metro and other trains to continue operating in a regulated manner so that commuters do not face inconvenience. The court took particular exception to the apparent contradiction in the Delhi Metro's communication, which referred to reducing train frequency and closing station gates from 9pm on Friday until further orders. "The word 'closure' in the metro notice appears to sit uncomfortably with the expression 'frequency reduced'. Reduction of frequency is regulation. Closure is prohibition," the bench said. The court was told that railway services had also been disrupted ahead of the demonstration. Indian Railways cancelled mail and express trains scheduled to arrive at or depart from New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin stations between 4 am and 2 pm on October 10, citing anticipated severe road congestion around the stations. Separately, Delhi Police had asked the DMRC to close entry and exit gates at 57 metro stations from Friday night and reduce train frequency at the identified stations....