Lawyers are backing the protesters and calling on the Prime Minister to order an investigation into the police crackdown
Delhi Police stand guard as protesters in large numbers continue their protest at Jantar Mantar in support of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged examination irregularities and NEET paper leak, in New Delhi on July 22, 2026. | Photo credit: ANI
The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Supreme Court Bar Association (SCAORA) and several lawyers from Delhi have condemned the police action against students during a protest called by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Monday (July 20, 2026), calling it an “attack” on constitutional values and calling for accountability.
The SCBA passed a resolution demanding an immediate, impartial and time-bound inquiry into the police action, which said several students and members of the legal fraternity were injured.
“The use of excessive and disproportionate force against peaceful students and members of the Bar Association is deeply disturbing and unacceptable in a democratic society,” the resolution said. He urged the authorities to identify those responsible, initiate action in accordance with the law, provide medical assistance to the injured and take steps to prevent such incidents.
In a separate letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, SCBA president Vikas Singh sought a judicial inquiry into the police action as well as the alleged irregularities in national-level examinations.
“I am addressing this representation with deep concern over the twin administrative collapses that strike at the core of our constitutional democracy: the illegal and disproportionate police violence perpetrated on peaceful student assemblies and the failure of the state machinery to fairly conduct various national examinations,” Mr Singh wrote, urging the government to order a time-bound inquiry into both issues.
In another statement signed by more than 650 members of the Bar, including senior advocates Indira Jaising, Raju Ramachandran, Chander Uday Singh, Sanjay Hegde, Huzefa Ahmadi, Rebecca M. John and Gopal Subramanium, the lawyers expressed solidarity with the students and called for accountability for any unlawful use of force.
“In a constitutional democracy, peaceful dissent is not an act of defiance, but the exercise of fundamental freedoms guaranteed by Article 19, paragraph 1, letter a) and Article 19, paragraph 1, letter b) of the Constitution. The state does have the authority to maintain public order, but any restriction of these freedoms must meet the constitutional requirements of legality, necessity and proportionality,” the statement reads.
Lawyers providing pro bono legal assistance to the students detained since Monday (July 20, 2026) alleged that the police did not share copies of the FIRs or disclose the identity and whereabouts of the detainees, delaying legal assistance.
Raghavi Shukla, a Delhi-based lawyer who is helping the detained students, told The Hindu that she and other lawyers have secured the release of about 90 students from five police stations since Monday evening (July 20, 2026).
“We visited Janpath, Parliament Street, Mandir Marg and other police stations. The biggest challenge is that the police are not releasing the names of the detainees or allowing lawyers to meet them. The flow of information was so limited that one detainee lodged at the Chhatrasal police station could only be released after two days because we insisted,” she said.
The lawyers claimed they were made to wait for hours outside police stations and were denied access to FIRs, medical records and other documents.
Another lawyer, Charu Sinha, who is providing legal aid along with advocates Anuka Bachawat and Sneha Mandal, argued that the detainees were being moved between police stations, making it difficult to trace them.
“We have found some students detained by Jantar Mantar at Burari police station. It has become a difficult task to find the detainees,” she said.
Published – 22 Jul 2026 23:52 IST