The Supreme Court has expressed “disquiet” at petitioners’ aspersions of ‘conflict of interest’ within its High-Powered Enquiry Committee (HPEC) formed to probe into the police crackdown on Cockroach Janta Party protests on July 20.
Subhash Reddy, to look into issues and allegations, including that of police excesses on students during nationwide protests against NEET-UG paper leaks. Beside Justice Reddy, the committee includes Justice Ravi Shankar Jha, former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court; Justice Shalinder Kaur, former Judge of the Delhi High Court; Rishi Kumar Shukla, former Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation; and Dr. L.R. Bishnoi, retired Director General of Police, Meghalaya. “We are constrained to observe, with some measure of disquiet, that aspersions have been cast upon the HPEC in a manner that is both premature and precipitate. These issues involve the use of facial recognition surveillance by the police at the Jantar Mantar protest site and the alleged storage of that data with private entities.
On August 20, the court had tasked the HPEC headed by former apex court judge, Justice R. In the circumstances, we are not inclined to effect any alteration in the constitution of the Committee, particularly where the prayer for such reconstitution proceeds on nothing more than conjecture and preconceived notions, articulated even before the HPEC has embarked upon its enquiry,” the Supreme Court observed in its September 10 order, published on Wednesday (September 16, 2026).
Refusing to re-constitute the HPEC, a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant criticised the petitioners, who include students, of indulging in “conjecture and preconceived notions”. The court underscored the fact that the HPEC was constituted to assist the Supreme Court itself, with the “highest standards of fairness and transparency and with a dispassionate approach”. The court said “broader constitutional questions” would be taken up for hearing at the “appropriate stage”.
But the court expressed a sense of chagrin that the disparagement from the petitioners’ side had commenced even before the HPEC had started work.
