SC dismisses plea seeking probe into FIRs against student protesters
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The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea seeking an investigation into FIRs registered against student protesters who participated in the July 20 demonstration called by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).
The plea was filed as a review petition challenging the court’s September 1 order quashing all FIRs registered against protesters between July 20 and 25, except those against individuals with criminal antecedents.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana heard the public interest litigation filed by L Ramanathan, who argued that police functions were independent and sovereign and should not be subject to judicial interference.
The CJI said the court had exercised its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to quash the FIRs, taking into account the future of the young students involved.
“You say we should not have invoked Article 142 and quashed FIRs. Please appreciate, these are young students. We have to see their parents, their future. We don’t want them to get entangled in legal cases and have to come to court,” the CJI observed.
Ramanathan argued that it was important to send a message and said people often approached courts as though they were their “private property”.
The bench referred to a recent order permitting the Himachal Pradesh government to withdraw prosecution in 63 criminal cases involving MPs and MLAs over public demonstrations and sit-ins during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Your petition is basically a review petition, saying our order was wrong,” the court noted before dismissing the plea.
On July 20, around 30,000 people took to the streets and attempted to march towards Parliament, demanding educational reforms and the resignation of then Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The protest turned violent after police used force to control the crowd, leading to clashes between protesters and police.