New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined a request for an urgent hearing of a petition challenging the police action against students during the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led protest march in Delhi.
The matter was mentioned before a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, along with Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana.
During the mentioning, the petitioner’s counsel urged the court to list the matter for hearing on Thursday, claiming to have video footage of alleged police excesses against students during the protest.
The counsel told the Bench that the petition raised three key issues and alleged that students were subjected to police brutality during the demonstration.
The Bench, however, refused to grant an urgent listing. The Chief Justice said the court was not inclined to examine video footage at the mentioning stage.
“We are not interested in the videos. We do not have time to watch them,” the CJI observed, declining the request for an immediate hearing.
When the lawyer again referred to the alleged assault on students and sought to rely on the videos, the Bench reiterated that it was not prepared to consider such material while deciding whether to urgently list the case.
The petition relates to the police action during the CJP’s march towards Parliament on the opening day of the Monsoon Session, when thousands of students and youth protesters gathered in the national capital seeking the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged examination irregularities.
The march witnessed clashes between protesters and security personnel after demonstrators attempted to move towards Parliament, with police using batons and tear gas to disperse the crowd.
