The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to urgently list a plea challenging the police action against students during the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led protest march in Delhi, with Chief Justice of India Surya Kant declining to entertain the request at the mentioning stage.
The matter was mentioned before a bench comprising CJI Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana.
"I have the videos as well regarding police brutality. If it can be listed tomorrow (Thursday), students are there," the petitioner's counsel submitted, alleging that students were subjected to police brutality during the protest. The lawyer also told the court that the petition contained three prayers.
The CJI, however, refused to consider the request and made it clear that the bench was not inclined to examine video footage while deciding whether to grant an urgent hearing.
"We are not interested in videos, we don't have time to watch... We don't want to watch videos," the CJI said.
When the counsel again referred to the alleged assault on students and sought to rely on the video evidence, the CJI responded, "Don't waste our time. We don't want to watch any videos."
The plea pertains to the police action during the CJP's march to Parliament on Monday, the opening day of the Monsoon Session. Thousands of students and young protesters had gathered in central Delhi demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged examination irregularities.
The protest later turned violent as demonstrators clashed with security personnel. Police used lathis and tear gas after protesters attempted to march towards Parliament, triggering widespread confrontations in the capital.
(With inputs from PTI)
