Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant on Friday rejected reports suggesting that the Supreme Court had declined to entertain a plea over the alleged police action against student protesters, calling such reports “completely false.” He clarified that no writ petition had been filed before the Court on the issue and that the only thing placed before the Bench was a letter representation submitted by an advocate.

The CJI explained that a letter or representation cannot be treated as a writ petition unless it is formally instituted in accordance with the Court’s procedure. Expressing concern over the manner in which the proceedings were reported, he observed that people had begun “recklessly reporting” court proceedings and described the coverage as irresponsible and misleading.

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The controversy traces back to Wednesday’s mentioning before the Supreme Court, when an advocate sought urgent judicial intervention over the alleged police action against students protesting at Jantar Mantar over the purported NEET paper leak. The counsel alleged that police had used tear gas and lathi-charge to disperse the protesters and urged the Court to immediately take up the issue, even offering to show videos of the incident. The Bench, however, declined the request for urgent mentioning, observing that it was “not interested in videos” and that it did not have time to watch them. Several media reports subsequently portrayed the exchange as the Supreme Court having refused to list a petition challenging the police action.

Clarifying the position today, the Chief Justice stated that no writ petition had been instituted before the Court at all, and that the only material placed before the Bench was a letter representation by an advocate, which could not be treated as a writ petition in the absence of a formal filing.