SC turns down, Delhi HC takes up pleas on police violence at CJP protest

While the Supreme Court declined, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought responses from the Union Government and the city police on two pleas alleging excessive use of force against protesters during the July 20 march to the Parliament. A bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia directed the authorities to preserve all relevant records in relation to the police action, including CCTV camera footage and any videography.

Earlier in the morning, the SC has rejected a similar petition seeking a probe against police excess against the protestors. The matter was mentioned before a bench comprising the CJI Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana. “I have the videos as well regarding police brutality... If it can be listed tomorrow (Thursday)... students are there,” the lawyer said.

The CJI declined the request and made it clear that the bench was not inclined to examine video footage at the mentioning stage. “We are not interested in videos, we don’t have time to watch... We don’t want to watch videos,” the CJI said. When the counsel reiterated that students had been beaten up and again referred to the video evidence, the CJI said, “Don’t waste our time. We don’t want to watch any videos.”

In the afternoon, the Delhi HC issued a notice on the PILs and gave four weeks to the authorities to file their counter affidavits. “Let a counter affidavit be filed on behalf of the respondents within four weeks,” the court ordered.

“In the meantime, we direct that the relevant record in relation to the incident as mentioned in the writ petitions, including the CCTV footage and videography, shall be preserved as per the SOP of the Delhi Police or the Union of India,” it added. The matter would be heard next on September 11.

Senior advocates N Hariharan, Vikas Singh and Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the petitioners, contended that police used excessive force on protesters, including women and children. Seeking an inquiry into the incident, the senior counsel asserted that the protesters were exercising their fundamental right to peacefully protest against irregularities in NEET. Additional Solicitor General SV Raju said the pleas were based on social media posts and were not maintainable.