SC to hear pleas alleging police excesses during NEET protests today

The Supreme Court will hear two petitions alleging excessive police force against students protesting the NEET paper leak and exam irregularities. The pleas challenge the July 20 crackdown in Delhi, while the Delhi High Court has already sought responses and ordered preservation of evidence

New Delhi: The Supreme Court is slated to hear on Monday two separate pleas alleging police excesses against students protesting over NEET paper leak and other exam irregularities. According to the apex court’s cause list of July 27, the pleas would come up for hearing before a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana. A bench headed by the CJI had on July 24 agreed to hear these petitions after the matter was mentioned before it.

“Police is using excessive force against the students,” senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan had told the bench while mentioning the pleas for urgent listing. Sankaranarayanan had told the bench that two separate petitions were filed regarding the violence that took place during students’ protests across the country.

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The CJI had said that the pleas would be listed for hearing on July 27. Students were staging protests in several states against the paper leak. The Cockroach Janta Party-led march on July 20 in Delhi witnessed clashes between protesters and security personnel, who used lathis and tear gas shells to disperse crowds attempting to move towards Parliament.

The protesters were demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak issue. On Saturday, the CJP called off its 36-day agitation after Pradhan resigned and the government accepted its other demands.

Pradhan announced his resignation in a statement, saying the developments of the past 10 days had “saddened” him deeply and that the issue was “not a matter of personal prestige”. On July 22, the Delhi High Court had sought responses from the Centre and the Delhi Police on two separate pleas alleging excessive use of force against protesters during the July 20 march to Parliament.

The high court had directed the authorities to preserve all relevant records in relation to the police action, including CCTV camera footage and any videography.