New Delhi [India], August 5 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Wednesday stressed that counselling, listening to young protesters and police restraint are the best ways to prevent student protests from turning violent.
A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana observed that an aggressive response by the authorities could worsen the situation and trigger further violence.
“They are youngsters; they need a lot of advisory consulting, and any aggression coming from the other side in the name of the mighty State may unnecessarily aggravate the situation and lead to further violence,” remarked the CJI while hearing a plea relating to students’ protest at Jantar Mantar.
“The police need to exercise a great deal of restraint to ensure that the situation does not go out of hand. We need to tread very carefully so that 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,” the Chief Justice said.
The top court was hearing a PIL filed by Maneesh Kumar Solanki seeking action against the organisers of the Jantar Mantar protests for their alleged role in the July 20 Parliament march which turned violent.
The apex court tagged the matter along with the other pending petitions relating to protests.
Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Rizwan Ahmed, argued that while the protest initially aimed at demanding accountability from the government and the police, there had been no scrutiny of those who organised the demonstrations.
He submitted that organisers should also be held accountable for violence or disorder arising during protests, contending that the law recognises such responsibility.
He also cautioned against withdrawing criminal cases merely because of a political understanding, and contended that such a move would create a precedent for governments to routinely withdraw cases arising from large-scale agitations.
To this, the Chief Justice stressed that the State must exercise restraint while dealing with young protesters and an aggressive response by the authorities could worsen the situation and trigger further violence.
The apex court further observed that the police must act with great care whenever protests turn volatile.
The counsel suggested supervised community service for minors who allegedly used abusive language against police personnel and said those involved in serious acts such as stone-pelting should not escape legal consequences.
Such incidents could embolden future groups to march towards Parliament, said the lawyer, adding, “Tomorrow Generation Alpha, Beta, Delta will come.”
The petition sought directions to identify persons who allegedly used abusive or defamatory language against police and security personnel during the protests through video recordings and other evidence, and to require them to perform supervised community service without prejudice to any criminal proceedings.
The July 20 Parliament march, organised by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) after weeks of protests and a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar, drew thousands of students who attempted to march towards Parliament demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged examination paper leaks and broader reforms to the examination system.
As demonstrators attempted to breach several police barricades in central Delhi while marching towards Parliament, security personnel used tear gas shells and carried out a lathi-charge to disperse the crowd.
Several videos shared on social media purportedly showed protesters being manhandled by police.
The Delhi Police, however, defended its action, stating that force was used only after sections of the crowd turned violent and allegedly engaged in stone-pelting. (ANI)
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