'Whoever Used Excessive Force Against Innocents Must Face Law': SC's BIG Remarks In CJP Protest Violence Case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday observed that the protest held at Delhi's Jantar Mantar was under constitutional limits. Questioning the Delhi Police's action against the protesters during the Cockroach Janata Party's (CJP's) July 20 "Sansad Chalo" protest march, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant remarked that whoever has used excessive force against innocents, law must take its course. Notably, the protest led by the CJP at Jantar Mantar witnessed massive participation from students who were demanding former former union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation over the NEET UG paper leak"Protest is within constitutional limits. Two things can happen. We will examine whether those who wanted to prevent the protest indulged

in excessive force, and whether that resulted in violence. We need inputs from all stakeholders. We will issue guidelines," CJI Surya Kant said."Whoever has used excessive force against innocents, the law must take its course. There should be an independent, fair, and transparent probe," he noted.Notably, a bench headed by the CJI made these remarks while hearing petitions on the police crackdown during the protest. The top court also noted that there are reports of attacks on media persons during the protest. "We have come across of an instance of assault on a media person," the CJI noted. "It requires a thorough probe. no doubt about it," he added.The Chief Justice further stated that the court would lay down all India protocol once guidelines are laid down. "Anyone who took law in their own hands can be brought to book," he added. The court ordered authorities to release all students without any criminal antecedent

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta In Supreme Court:

Solicitor General who appeared for the Delhi Police told the Supreme Court that the police stood with the students and said any attack on them was "sad" and a "serious" matter."We are with the students. If students have been attacked, it is sad and serious. But there is another aspect—around 250 police personnel were also injured. We need to take up their cause as well; otherwise, we will be demoralising them. Apparently, some miscreants had entered the protest, and uninvited guests had become co-hosts. We will place the relevant data before the court," Mehta said."We had yesterday reported that Delhi Police identified almost 3,000 people. Among them number of identified individuals are habitual offenders anti-social criminal elements had infiltrated into the protest. Among them, 101 were involved in murder. Sixty-two were involved in attempt to murder cases, 284 had involvement in dacoity or robbery cases, and 61 were involved in rape cases," he added.Mehta said that he is with students and do not think that they committed any crime. He, however, urged the court to consider the complete picture and sought time to place the Delhi Police's version and evidence on record before any conclusions are drawn."In nutshell, I am with students. I don't think students perpetrated a crime. If they have suffered, the perpetrators must be brought to book. Your lordships may appoint committee. But kindly give me couple of days to place facts on record. I don't want to suggest any name. I would leave it to your lordships. States may be called. We are preserving data," Mehta stated.The apex court issued a notice to the Centre over the entire matter.

Here's What Court Said On Monday's Hearing:

On Monday, while hearing the matter, the SC bench remarked that "agitation does not mean lathicharge." The bench also questioned protesters over the incidents of violence. "Agitation does not mean violence," the bench further remarked, stressing that both protesters and authorities must exercise restraint.The bench insisted on the need to formulate uniform pan-India guidelines for handling protests. It also directed that the matter should be approached cooperatively rather than as an adversarial dispute between the petitioners and the governments..On July 20, protesters marching towards Parliament in response to the CJP's "Sansad Chalo" call, demanding the resignation of Pradhan over the NEET-UG paper leak case, clashed with the Delhi Police. The protesters alleged that security personnel used excessive force during the confrontation, a charge that the police denied.