The Supreme Court on Tuesday indicated that it may order an independent probe into allegations of police excesses during the CJP protests over the NEET paper leak, observing that a fair, transparent and thorough investigation was necessary to fix accountability.
Hearing a batch of petitions, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant observed that accountability was necessary wherever there was a breach of the law, while also stressing the need to investigate violence against police personnel.
"Why should there not be an independent probe into these allegations? Whoever has committed excesses or atrocities against innocent people, the law will take care of them. For that, there needs to be a completely independent and fair investigation. A probe is meaningless if no responsibility is fixed," said a bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant.
The top court also stressed that, while hearing the pleas against police excesses, an attempt should be made to frame a protocol to deal with such emergent situations in the future.
The Court also directed the release of student protesters who are under 18 and have no criminal records, and asked authorities to preserve electronic and digital evidence.
It directed all states where protests were held to preserve CCTV footage, drone recordings, body-camera footage, wireless communication records, PCR logs and other digital evidence pertaining to the protests.
It also ordered that any digital data collected on protesters be preserved but not brought into the public domain.
The bench restrained authorities from taking any coercive action against protesting students, saying that the protection would not extend to persons with criminal antecedents.
The bench permitted the Delhi government to continue investigations into FIRs registered but said no coercive action be taken against eligible protesting students during the pendency of the proceedings.
The bench also sought responses from the chief secretaries of Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh to the allegations raised in the petitions.
"The allegations prima facie warrant consideration of a fair and independent probe, which must also address the concerns of families of over 200 injured police personnel," the CJI said.
The bench said the Centre and the concerned states have been directed to place their versions on record before it considers constituting an independent committee or a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to ensure a fair, transparent and thorough probe into all incidents of violence during the protests.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that students would not indulge in violence against police personnel and alleged that "miscreants" had infiltrated the protests.
"Miscreants involved in murder, rape and NDPS cases entered the protest and perpetrated violence on police personnel," Mehta told the court.
Clarifying the government's stand, Mehta said that the Centre was prepared to act in whatever manner the court considered appropriate.
The court, however, also noted that the police may contend that even peaceful protests are sometimes infiltrated by unruly elements, leading to violence.
The CJI highlighted that every stakeholder should assist the court in the matter and added that the proposed all-India protocol governing protests and crowd-control measures would require minor modifications, as situations were no longer unfolding in the conventional manner and the issue needed to be addressed accordingly.
Senior advocate Vrinda Grover urged the Supreme Court to issue directions over pellet injuries suffered by some protesters during the student demonstrations.
The court was hearing two petitions, including one by advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi, seeking comprehensive guidelines on police conduct during public protests.
The pleas sought a ban on plainclothes personnel for crowd control, stricter norms for imposing prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS, and an independent probe into the July 20 police action in Delhi.
The petitions come after the Cockroach Janta Party-led march in Delhi turned violent after clashes broke out between protesters and security personnel, who used lathis and tear gas shells to disperse crowds attempting to march towards Parliament on July 20.
The protesters were demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak controversy.
On Monday, the bench had observed that an agitation could not justify "police excesses" or a "lathi charge", while reiterating that the right to peaceful protest is "absolutely guaranteed".
(With inputs from PTI)
