CJP Protest Big Update: In a major development, the Supreme Court on Tuesday called for an impartial inquiry into the violence during recent nationwide student protests over the NEET paper leak issue.
The country’s top court ordered the authorities to immediately release all detained students who are under 18 and directed the police to stop coercive action and refrain from releasing students’ personal data.
What Did The Court Say?
The bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant and included justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, stated that the interim protection is not for ‘anti-social elements’ or persons having criminal antecedents. The country’s top court also issued notices to state governments and chief secretaries of Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar, Assam, Kerala, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, where protests were held, and said that allegations of police excess and protesters’ violence against cops required a separate and independent investigation.
“The allegations by petitioners make out a prima facie case for an independent probe,” the bench said. It also added that the probe should also focus on complaints given by families of injured police personnel.
Petitions Filed Over Alleged Police Brutality During NEET Protests
It is to be noted that the court’s order came on petitions alleging the use of excessive police force during protests, including the ‘Sansad Chalo’ march in Delhi, across several states. While hearing the pleas, the judges observed that protesting on issues is the right of civilians, and it is constitutionally protected as long as the protests are peacefully conducted.
“It was completely a peaceful protest by students raising demands. Such a protest is permissible and protected under the Constitution,” observed the CJI, while cautioning that peaceful demonstrations were often infiltrated by “uninvited guests with agendas”.
“In a peaceful protest there can be uninvited guests with agendas and then they become co-hosts. So why should there not be an independent probe into all of this,” the bench remarked.