The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear on Tuesday a plea filed by the Delhi Police seeking to quash 13 FIRs registered against students who participated in protests over the NEET paper leak, and to register a fresh case against 2,873 individuals allegedly present at the demonstrations.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana agreed to list the matter after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta sought an urgent hearing. As the bench was about to rise after the day's proceedings, Mehta said the Centre wanted to move an interlocutory application seeking the quashing of FIRs registered in connection with the protests.
“We are invoking Article 142 (of the Constitution),” he said.
The Delhi Police, in its application, said that following a decision taken by the Centre on July 25, it no longer wished to pursue the 13 FIRs registered in connection with the protests. The protests were held between July 20 and 25 in and around Jantar Mantar in Delhi over the NEET paper leak.
According to a chart attached to the petition, the FIRs were registered at different police stations on July 21, 22, 25, and 26. The cases include charges related to rioting, attempted murder, and damage to public property, while one FIR also carries a robbery charge.
However, the police sought the court's permission to register a fresh FIR against 2,873 individuals who were allegedly present at the protest site and were prima facie found to have serious criminal antecedents in the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) database. The proposed investigation would seek to determine whether any of them were involved in offences involving bodily harm or destruction of property during the protests.
The police also clarified that no fresh FIR would be registered for incidents already covered by the application. It requested that any order allowing the plea be confined to the “peculiar facts” of the case and not treated as a precedent.
The Supreme Court had earlier directed that state governments were at liberty to withdraw FIRs registered against protesters involved in the nationwide demonstrations over the NEET paper leak. The court, however, clarified that those accused of grave and heinous offences would not be covered by such relief. The top court had also constituted a high-powered inquiry committee headed by former apex court judge Justice R Subhash Reddy to examine issues and allegations, including claims of police excesses against students during the protests.
The latest development comes as the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has called for a protest march in Delhi on September 5, accusing the Centre of failing to honour assurances made on July 25 that had led the group to withdraw its 36-day agitation over examination irregularities. According to the CJP, the march will be led by families of students who died by suicide following the cancellation of the NEET exam and subsequent re-test, as well as those who were allegedly subjected to police excesses during the July protests.