Supreme Court rejects Delhi Police ‘free hand’ plea against protesters: ‘They are young students’ | Today’s news
The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a request for directions to give the Delhi Police a “free hand” to deal with protesters, noting that the future of the young students taking part in the demonstrations and the concerns of their parents should also be taken into account, according to a LiveLaw report.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohan stressed that the young protesters should not be unnecessarily embroiled in lengthy court proceedings.
“These are young students and protesters in front of us. We have to see their parents, we have to see that they have a long life. They should not be involved in court hearings,” CJI Kant said, as quoted by LiveLaw.
The bench was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by L Ramanathan, who argued that the police should be allowed to perform their functions independently without judicial interference as they are “independent and sovereign”.
The petition demanded an inquiry into the FIRs registered against the student protesters after the July demonstrations at Jantar Mantar.
However, the tribunal noted that the relief sought was effectively a review of its earlier decision to dismiss the cases.
“There is no guarantee that we will continue to issue 100% correct orders. You are saying that we should not have invoked Article 142 and quashed the FIR… please understand that these are young students… we have to see their parents, their future… we don’t want them to come to court,” the CJI said, according to the report.
The suit was filed before the Supreme Court passed an order quashing the FIR on September 1, the report said.
Delhi Police refused permission to protest on 10 October
The development comes amid fresh tension over the planned demonstrations on October 10 at Jantar Mantar against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
According to a Times of India report, the Delhi Police has refused permission for a protest proposed by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and has declared any assembly illegal.
The CJP, opposition groups and student organizations have been demanding the resignation of CEC Kumar over allegations of “vote theft” and irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The CJP had earlier supported a protest march by INDIA Bloc MPs towards the Election Commission office on 6 October.
The opposition attack on Kumar gained momentum following an Indian Express report that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had challenged decisions and orders related to the SIR process at least 14 times in the past 10 months, claiming they were issued without their knowledge or advice.
