The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would constitute a high-powered committee comprising retired judges, a former DGP, an ex-CBI director and others to examine allegations of police excesses against student protesters in Delhi.
The panel would also examine complaints and allegations made by female protesters who were reportedly targeted during the protest march in Delhi and other areas. The top court further said that it would direct the handing over of video footage and CCTV recordings of the violence during the July 20 Parliament march in Delhi to the high-powered committee for examination. The bench asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to furnish details of FIRs implicating the student protesters, which are to be quashed, indicating that the court may exercise its plenary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution.
Mehta said police had identified more than 2,800 “anti-social elements”, who had been involved in heinous offences in the past, as responsible for the violence during the July 20 protest. The top court had earlier observed that 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”.
