New Delhi, Sep 1: The Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed all FIRs registered against students who participated in the Cockroach Janta Party-led protests across the country between July 20 and 25, prompting the group to call off its September 5 march in the national capital.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant also directed the Centre to provide within three months compensation to families of students who ended their lives over the NEET paper leak.
Closing the criminal proceedings against the protesters at the Centre’s request, the bench said, “Keeping in view the future prospects of the young protesters, we invoke our powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to do complete justice.”
Article 142 empowers the apex court to pass any orders to do complete justice.
The order came after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that the Centre and the states of Maharashtra, Assam, Bihar and West Bengal sought quashing of the FIRs linked to the protests.
Acceding to the Centre’s request, the apex court, however, permitted Delhi Police to register fresh FIRs against 2,873 individuals with serious criminal antecedents who were present in the Jantar Mantar protest.
“Such an FIR can be registered without prejudice to the rights of the affected parties to seek remedies available to them in law, and strictly confined to the two categories of allegations referred to in paragraph 4, namely, bodily harm and destruction of property,” the bench said.
The bench, also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, took note of the submissions of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and widened the ambit of its order. “If there is any other FIR registered with regard to same protest between July 20 to July 25 in any of the states or UTs, which are not before this court, they shall not be pursued and will be treated as closed,” it said.
Dealing with the award of compensation to the families of those who committed suicide, the court directed the Centre to formulate a nationwide policy on the issue and pay the money within three months to the aggrieved families.
“The Union of India shall formulate a policy with respect to payment of compensation on a pan-India basis. Such policy shall be circulated to all the State Governments concerned and implementing authorities, so that it can be adopted as a regular mechanism for payment of compensation.
“As regards the students who committed suicide in connection with NEET 2026, compensation shall be paid to the affected families after formulation of the policy. The policy shall be formulated within a period of three months,” the bench said.
CJP co-convener Saurav Das appeared before the bench and read out a statement on behalf of the group.
“As co-convener of the CJP, I want to state that in view of the positive assurances of the Government of India and the judicial sanctity bestowed upon them today, and in view of the order being passed by this court, the CJP deems it appropriate to withdraw the call for the march on September 5 and looks forward to compliance with today’s order. I also thank the court for this decision and the learned counsel on both sides, Ms Vrinda Grover and the Solicitor General, for their efforts,” Das said.
The bench recorded the statements of the solicitor general and Das and said it invoked its extraordinary powers keeping in mind the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case. It expressed hope that both sides would abide by their promises.
“We make it clear that the invocation of the extraordinary powers of this court under Article 142 of the Constitution is subject to the condition that both sides shall abide by the understanding arrived at before this court,” the bench said.
During the hearing, Mehta informed the court that the Centre is committed to honour the assurances given to the CJP that the police in Delhi and other states would not pursue the FIRs registered in connection with the protests.
The solicitor general also told the court that the Union of India was committed to other assurances as well, including compensation to the families.
Mehta, however, sought time to work out the necessary modalities.
The CJP had called for a protest march in Delhi on September 5, Teachers’ Day. It had accused the Centre of failing to honour the promises made on July 25 to persuade the group to withdraw its 36-day agitation against irregularities in exams and the NEET paper leak.
The top court had agreed to hear a plea filed by Delhi Police seeking quashing of 13 FIRs against students who participated in the protests and registering a fresh case against 2,873 individuals.
The application said that according to the decision taken by the Central government on July 25, Delhi Police no longer wished to pursue the 13 FIRs.
“It is submitted that 2,873 individuals having serious criminal antecedents as per the National Crime Records Bureau database were prima-facie reported to be present at the protest site. The investigation is required to ascertain their role, if any, in the commission of offences relating to bodily harm or destruction of property at the said protests,” the application said.
The apex court had earlier constituted a high-powered enquiry committee to probe issues and allegations, including those of police excesses against students surrounding the nationwide protests against NEET-UG paper leaks.
The CJP-led march on July 20 in Delhi saw clashes between protesters and security personnel, who used lathis and teargas shells to disperse crowds attempting to move towards Parliament. (PTI)
