The Supreme Court is hearing two petitions on Monday seeking to set aside the police action against students protesting against the alleged NEET question paper leak at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi and other places around the country which is being dubbed as “Excessive”.
The three-member bench presided over by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, who were accompanied by Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, accepted the two petitions filed by senior advocates Gopal Sankaranarayanan and Shyam Divan, citing the urgency of the matter. Addressing the court, Sankaranarayanan alleged that the police resorted to excessive force against student protesters in the situation and demanded that it be addressed by any other judicial forum.
“This is occurring day-in, day-out and justice is being meted out by the police through too much force against children,” he said in the Supreme Court.
The senior advocate told the court that the Petitions have been filed after obtaining diary numbers from the Supreme Court Registry and the two states have been made parties to the case.
The petitions coincide with nationwide protests demanding the resignation of the Union Government over allegations of a paper leakage in the NEET-UG examination where students claim to be beaten by police with batons & teargas by the Police in public. However, the police sides say protesters then tried to circumvent security measures and pelted police officers, so they were forced to make a response. Several FIRs have also been lodged as a result of the protests.
Earlier in the day CJI Surya Kant stressed that there was no petition filed with the court and the court had received only a lawyer’s representation, contradicting reports that the court had turned down a plea pertaining to the police action. The Supreme Court will now consider the matter for a hearing.