SC declines urgent listing of plea against police action during CJP protest

The Supreme Court declined urgent listing of a plea challenging alleged police brutality during the Cockroach Janta Party’s Parliament march in Delhi. The bench refused to consider video evidence at the mentioning stage, saying it was not inclined to examine such material

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined a request for urgent listing of a plea challenging the police action against students during the Cockroach Janta Party-led protest march in Delhi.

The matter was mentioned before a bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana.

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“I have the videos as well regarding police brutality… If it can be listed tomorrow (Thursday)… students are there,” the lawyer said.

He said that students had allegedly been subjected to police brutality during the protest and said the petition contained three prayers.

The CJI declined the request and made it clear that the bench was not inclined to examine video footage at the mentioning stage.

“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 reiterated that students had been beaten up and again referred to the video evidence, the CJI said, “Don’t waste our time. We don’t want to watch any videos.” The plea relates to the police action during the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) protest march to Parliament on Monday, the opening day of the Monsoon session, when thousands of students and young protesters converged in the heart of Delhi to demand the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged examination irregularities.

The march witnessed clashes between protesters and security personnel, who used lathis and tear gas to disperse crowds attempting to move towards Parliament.