The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear together a batch of petitions arising out of the recent student protests, including pleas alleging police brutality, recent firing incidents, and violence against police personnel. The matters are likely to be taken up together on Tuesday.
During the mentioning, Senior Advocate Sridhar Potaraju appearing for one of the petitioners informed the Bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana that a fresh writ petition had been filed incorporating updated facts, including allegations relating to recent firing incidents and police excesses. Counsel requested that it be tagged with the pending petitions concerning the student protests.
Another counsel, appearing for the families of police personnel allegedly assaulted during the protests, sought permission to place their perspective before the Court, submitting that several officers had been “brutalised” and videos of the incidents were circulating.
Responding to the submissions, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said that the right to peaceful protest occupies a protected place under the Constitution.
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“The right to protest, peaceful protest, lawful protest is absolutely guaranteed in the arm of our constitutional scheme. That can’t be denied. So long as it is a peaceful agitation, merely because there is an agitation, there can’t be excesses…Every citizen is protected. If excesses have been committed, those should be independently looked into. They should be examined, who are personally responsible for what kind of excesses have been committed, and what preventive measures and mandatory guidelines should be followed in future…If support groups want to agitate on an issue, they have a right to agitate. There should be proper space… there should not be any impediment or restriction. But if some anti-social element has done anything wrong, that of course can be taken care of.”
Highlighting the need for systemic reforms, the CJI said the issue transcended Delhi and required uniform standards across the country.
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“It’s not a question of Delhi only, it’s a question of all areas… merely because there is an agitation, it should not be assumed that there must be a violent incident. These things require balancing and harmonising. A self-rule discipline is integral to the democratic process.”
The Court indicated that all connected petitions would be taken up together on the following day, directing parties to exchange advance copies of their pleadings to facilitate a comprehensive hearing.