The Supreme Court has said that authorities must exercise restraint while responding to young student protesters. The SC bench said they should seek to understand the concerns of protesting youngsters instead of allowing situations to escalate into violence.
The Apex Court said, any violent response to prevent violence would only aggravate the situation. A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohan was hearing a plea by retired Air Force officers seeking action against the organisers of the Jantar Mantar protests for their alleged role in the July 20 demonstrations.
The plea seeks action against the party over its alleged responsibility for recent violence during CJP-led protests in Delhi and other parts of the country, including allegations of stone pelting. The Chief Justice said the most powerful approach is to listen to what the protesters are saying and understand why they are agitating.
The Court tagged the matter with other pending petitions concerning violence during student protests in Delhi and other States. It said all the petitions would be heard together. The Court also expressed confidence in the judgment of law enforcement agencies.
It said the matter should be left to the wisdom of the agencies, which are better placed to deal with the situation. The bench added that it would consider the matter on the next date of hearing after taking note of the Central Government’s stand.
The plea alleged that statements made by leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) incited protesters.During the hearing, CJI Kant stressed the need for restraint while dealing with demonstrations."We need to tread carefully so that these youngsters do not indulge in violence. The better course is to counsel them and pacify them. The most powerful tool is listening. Listen to them and understand why they are shouting," said CJI Kant.
The protests culminated in a "Sansad Chalo" march to Parliament on July 20 despite the Delhi Police stating that permission had not been granted for the march.Clashes broke out during the march, with allegations that the police resorted to disproportionate force including lathi charges, tear gas and pellet guns to disperse the student protestersPradhan resigned on July 25, following which the protests were called off.
Notably, on July 28, the Supreme Court directed that no coercive action be taken against protesters and ordered the immediate release of minors detained by the police across different States.The plea before the Court today was filed by retired Air Force officers seeking action against organisers of the protests.
The petitioner's counsel argued that while accountability has been sought from the government and the police over the events of July 20, no action has been taken against the organisers of the protest even after 15 days. He submitted that the organisers are continuing to make provocative public statements and should be held responsible for the resulting violence.
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