The Central government has moved an application in the Supreme Court seeking to quash FIRs filed by the police against protesters in connection with alleged violence during the NEET paper leak protests in Delhi and other States.
The Solicitor General of India (SGI), Tushar Mehta, mentioned the plea before a bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, seeking the court’s intervention in the matter, according to news agency ANI.
The Centre seeks the top court to invoke its extraordinary powers to complete justice under Article 142 of the Constitution to quash FIRs against the protesting students. The Supreme Court will hear the matter on Tuesday (September 1).
Supreme Court refuses to stay CJP’s September 5 march
Earlier in the day, the top court refused to stay the proposed march by Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on September 5 or issue any directions in this regard, saying ensuring proper law and order is maintained is the responsibility of the government and expressing hopes that the authorities will take necessary action if required.
The observations were made by a bench headed by CJI Kant, which said it has no concrete reason to believe that any untoward situation will arise during the proposed march. However, it observed that if anything serious happens, then the petitioner can approach the court immediately.
“We will proceed on the assumption that everyone will behave responsibly, peacefully and in accordance with the law,” the apex court observed, while expressing hopes that all parties would abide by the law. “There is nothing before us at this stage to take a contrary view.”
CJP protest march in Delhi on September 5
The from the India Gate to the Delhi Police’s headquarters on September 5, alleging that the central government had failed to honour the promises that were made to the outfit on July 25, convincing it to end its over-month-long agitation.
The government had agreed to withdraw cases against those involved in protests in Delhi and other BJP-ruled states, and provide compensation to families of NEET aspirants who died by suicide following the paper leak. However, the CJP said the government has failed to honour the promises.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police have said that it has not received a request regarding the CJP’s protest march. The CJP, on the other hand, has decided that it would continue with the march as scheduled on September 5.
“We have not received any request letter so far. If we receive any request, we will review it accordingly,” a Delhi Police source told news agency .