Supreme Court says states can withdraw NEET protest FIRs against students without grave criminal antecedents

The Supreme Court has clarified that Delhi and other state governments may withdraw FIRs against students who protested over the NEET paper leak, provided they do not have criminal antecedents involving grave and heinous offences. The matter will next be heard on August 18

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday clarified that the governments of Delhi and other states can close or withdraw FIRs against students who participated in protests against the NEET paper leak, provided they do not have antecedents involving grave and heinous offences.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana also made it clear that the expression “criminal antecedents” referred only to grave and heinous offences.

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At the outset, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the top court that the Union government was serious in its commitment not to pursue FIRs against protesting students except those with criminal antecedents.

Mehta said that FIRs against over 2,700 people with antecedents involving grave and heinous offences would not be withdrawn.

During the hearing, senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan submitted that even lawyers’ children were beaten during the protests.

“The videos are very shocking. We have given 300 videos to the court. Since directions have come from the top, the commissioner of police must look at all this. “Ideally, we have identified un-uniformed individuals committing such police excess. A direction has to go to the Commissioner of police and the RAF director as to why police used pellet guns etc,” he said.

The matter is now listed for hearing on August 18.

The apex court had earlier said police excesses or a ‘lathi charge’ cannot be justified merely because there is an agitation and underlined that the right to peaceful protest was “absolutely guaranteed”.

The CJP-led march on July 20 in Delhi saw clashes between protesters and security personnel, who used lathis and teargas shells to disperse crowds attempting to move towards Parliament.