The Supreme Court expressed frustration on Wednesday regarding a notice issued by the Greater Noida Executive Magistrate to a student involved in the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protests that took place in July. This notice has raised concerns about the treatment of individuals participating in political demonstrations.
The Court asked how the Executive Magistrate could issue the notice when the Supreme Court had quashed all FIRs against students over the CJP protests and barred any future coercive action against any student. “How could the magistrate issue the notice? Our order was clear that no coercive action can be taken against any student across the country. How dare a magistrate do that?” an angry court asked. The court had also directed that no fresh action should be taken against any student in relation to the protests. It accused Tripathi of spreading anti-government information and encouraging students to join the CJP protest at Jantar Mantar.
Earlier on September 1, the Supreme Court had invoked its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to quash all cases against students arising from the CJP protests. The court ordered that FIRs registered between July 20 and 25 across states and Union territories in connection with the protests would not be pursued or investigated and would be treated as closed for all purposes. The notice issued to Akshat Tripathi, a second-year student of Gautam Buddh University, on September 4 was withdrawn the next day, the court was informed.
Describing the incident as an “experiment with students of India”, advocate Bhattacharya urged the court to intervene to prevent such incidents from recurring.
