The Central government on Monday moved an application in the Supreme Court, seeking to quash the FIRs filed by the police against protesters led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, along with other states.
The FIRs were filed over allegations of violence during the NEET paper leak protests in Delhi and other states. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and leader Saurav Das reacted to the development with posts on the social media platform X. Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta mentioned the plea before a bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant. “We will at least, as of now, presume everybody will behave in a peaceful manner. Right now there is no compelling circumstance to assume that any untoward thing will happen,” the CJI observed.
He said that the Centre seeks the top court to invoke its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to quash FIRs against protesters. The Supreme Court on Monday declined to urgently intervene against a protest march announced by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) in New Delhi on September 5, observing that maintenance of law and order was primarily the responsibility of the government and police.
A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said there was no reason, at this stage, to presume that the proposed demonstration would result in any untoward incident.
The Supreme Court will take up the case on Tuesday. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke reacted to the Centre moving to quash FIRs against NEET protesters with a photo holding a book by Dr BR Ambedkar. Dipke did not write anything in the post. Ambedkar imagery was a vital part of the CJP-led protest. When Dipke arrived in India back in June, he exited the airport in Delhi holding a book by India’s first law minister. Apart from Dipke, CJP spokesperson Saurav Das also reacted to the development with a cheeky selfie. Das posted a selfie on X, wearing black sunglasses on his nose, almost in a teasing manner.
He held the book up to the camera so that Dr Ambedkar’s photo would be visible.
