Guwahati: The Supreme Court on Monday clarified that its July 28 order does not prevent the Delhi government or any other state from closing or withdrawing proceedings arising from FIRs registered against NEET examination paper leak protesters, wherever such action is permissible under law.
The clarification came after the Centre informed the court that it remained committed to its assurance of granting amnesty to students who participated in protests over the NEET paper leak, including the July 20 ‘Sansad Chalo’ march in Delhi and subsequent demonstrations in other states.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said the July 28 order should not be interpreted as restricting the statutory powers of state governments to close or withdraw cases in accordance with the law.
The Bench also clarified that its earlier direction restraining police from taking coercive action against protesting students unless they had criminal antecedents would not apply to persons accused of serious offences, including rape and other heinous crimes.
The court suggested that authorities first identify and classify the FIRs registered across different states before initiating the appropriate statutory process in each case.
“If you can gather information from other states on how many FIRs were registered… After this classification, you can then take recourse to law,” the Chief Justice observed.
Justice Joymalya Bagchi said the court could facilitate the process once both sides reached an agreement on the cases that could be considered for closure or withdrawal. He noted that investigating agencies could file closure reports under Section 193 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, while public prosecutors could seek withdrawal from prosecution in accordance with the statutory procedure.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Union government and the Delhi Police, submitted that the government was “serious” about implementing its assurance and said discussions were under way with representatives of the protesting students to work out the modalities.
“I have instructions to say that the government is serious on the commitment… We are working on that… Those who are leading the protests are in touch with the government so that semantics can be worked out,” Mehta told the court.
The Bench also reiterated that it would examine framing a comprehensive and uniform protocol governing the use of pellet guns for crowd control, including the circumstances in which they may be used.
The matter has been posted for further hearing on August 18. The court directed the Union government to file its response before the next hearing.