The Supreme Court has provided a significant relief to student protesters involved in the Cockroach Janata Party demonstrations held from July 20 to 25. On Tuesday, the court quashed all FIRs filed against these protesters, with the exception of those who have prior criminal records. This ruling applies to cases across all states and union territories in India.
To this, Mehta replied that both sides have approached the matter constructively and positively. After the Supreme Court’s big move, the CJP called off its proposed September 5 march in Delhi. The court order came after Centre’s assurance that the cases filed against protesters regarding the July 20 CJP protest will be withdrawn and no new cases will be filed in the future regarding the same protest. The Court has however allowed the Delhi Police to pursue one FIR against 2,873 individuals who were present in the Jantar Mantar protests as they had serious criminal antecedents. CJP spokesperson Saurav Das told the top court that after Centre’s positive response and the top court’s decision, the group has decided to withdraw its call for the September 5 protest. Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta told the court that the Centre (Delhi Police), and the States of Bihar, Assam, West Bengal and Maharashtra have filed applications seeking to quash the FIRs linked to student protests, and assuring that no future FIRs would be registered in respect of the protest related events from July 20 to July 25.
During the court argument, the bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said that issue can be sorted out if both the sides talk to each other with trust. “We are not enemies,” he added.
