Priyanka Gandhi seeks discussion on July 20 protest crackdown at Home Affairs panel meeting
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A demand for a parliamentary discussion on the July 20 police action against protesters turned into a heated exchange at a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs on Tuesday, with Congress members Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Ajay Maken seeking to raise the issue.
According to sources, committee chairman and BJP MP Radha Mohan Das Agrawal declined to allow the discussion, saying the matter was already before the Supreme Court and that the meeting should remain focused on its scheduled agenda.
The agenda included hearing the views of the ministries of Labour, School Education, Social Justice and Health on “Crime Against Children”.
Priyanka Gandhi and Maken raised the Jantar Mantar protest and the July 20 march to Parliament, arguing that the injuries to minors during the police action brought the matter within the committee's remit.
A BJP MP opposed the move, leading to a heated exchange with Congress MP Jai Parkash, sources said. Agrawal then intervened, reiterating that the matter was sub judice.
The Supreme Court constituted a five-member high-powered expert committee headed by former Supreme Court judge R Subhash Reddy to examine allegations of excessive force by police and security personnel against protesters at Jantar Mantar and elsewhere. The panel also includes former Punjab and Haryana High Court chief justice Ravi Shankar Jha, former Delhi High Court judge Justice Shalinder Kaur, former CBI director Rishi Kumar Shukla and retired Meghalaya DGP LR Bishnoi.
The Congress has continued to seek FIRs and government action over police brutality.
On August 21, Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi staged a sit-in at the Sansad Marg police station, seeking an FIR over injuries suffered by student protester Sahil Lochab after being hit by a pellet during the CJP-led march. Police registered an FIR after around seven hours.
The July 20 march was organised by the Cockroach Janata Party and students over the NEET paper leak and other issues. Police used tear gas and batons to disperse protesters. The protests continued until then-Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned.