The Supreme Court has strongly pulled up the police for how they handled the recent protests at Jantar Mantar, making it clear that every citizen has a guaranteed right to protest peacefully.
The court also agreed to hear a set of petitions concerning the crackdown on students who were protesting across the country over the NEET paper leak and exam irregularities.
This comes only a few days after the court had refused to watch videos of the protests and had told a lawyer raising the matter to not waste its time.
According to the Indian Express, the Chief Justice observed, “The Right to peaceful protest is absolutely guaranteed. That cannot be denied. So long as it is peaceful agitation, merely because there is agitation, there can’t be (lathi charge)…if there are excesses committed, it should be independently examined.”
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Issue is not confined to Delhi
The court noted that the problem was not restricted to Delhi alone. Around the same time, the Siwan SP told the news agency ANI that action had been taken against a police official who was caught on camera firing an AK47 during the Bihar Bandh protest on July 25.
In several cities, police officials have already been suspended after visuals of their conduct during the youth led protests went viral for all the wrong reasons.
Need for a uniform protocol
On Monday, the Supreme Court reiterated that the right to a peaceful, lawful protest is guaranteed by the Constitution.
It also stressed that there needs to be balance in how the situation is handled, after a lawyer pointed out that police personnel too had been assaulted during the protests.
The bench remarked, “Life of every individual irrespective of who they are is important. There should be a protocol in place. There should be proper space and no restriction. But if there are some anti social elements etc that can be taken care of. This is not a question of Delhi only. Uniformity of protocol is needed.”
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The bench, headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, also agreed to take up a separate plea filed by family members of police personnel who were attacked during the protests, along with the other petitions already on its list.
Plea against Delhi internet shutdown withdrawn
Separately, the Delhi High Court allowed the Software Freedom Law Centre, India to withdraw its Public Interest Litigation that had challenged a series of Home Ministry orders suspending mobile internet services around Jantar Mantar during the exam related protests. The petitioner’s counsel informed the bench on Monday that they wished to withdraw the plea.
The PIL had sought to have the shutdown orders quashed and declared illegal and unconstitutional. It had also asked for the complete records connected to the suspension orders, along with directions requiring that any future internet shutdown orders be published at the time they are passed, in keeping with the Supreme Court’s ruling in Anuradha Bhasin versus Union of India.
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It had further sought directions requiring future suspension orders to spell out the reasons behind them, the material considered, and why less restrictive options were not used instead.
FAQs
1: What plea did the Supreme Court agree to hear?
It agreed to hear a batch of pleas related to the police crackdown on students protesting over the NEET paper leak and exam irregularities across the country.
2: Did the court say anything before this?
Yes. Just days earlier, the court had refused to watch videos of the protests and told a lawyer raising the issue not to waste its time.
