The Supreme Court-appointed High Powered Enquiry Committee (HPEC), tasked with inquiring into violence at Jantar Mantar , Delhi, and other places outside Delhi during the CJP protests in July has opened an online portal for people to upload complaints and representations, according to a Home Ministry statement on Saturday.
The statement said that the portal http://hpec.nic.in has been launched for the convenience of the affected people including victims among police and other security forces during the protests. The paragraphs mentioned in the two SC orders are about the same issues: use of pellets, electric batons, violence against protesters, including police personnel, compensation, and targeted violence. HT checked the portal, where one can submit information in four different ways: as an affected person (including police personnel), those who want to submit complaints or are witnesses but wish to remain anonymous, the third is for submitting any other information confidentially, and the fourth is for those with suggestions for the HPEC. For each category, there are different questions along with the option to attach complaints. There is also a question to check if the victim was sexually assaulted. One can also post videos and photographs of the injuries, the incident or the medical reports. The five-member committee comprises justice (retired) R Subhash Reddy, former Supreme Court judge, as chairperson; justice (retired) Ravi Shankar Jha, former chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana high court; justice (retired) Shalinder Kaur, former Delhi high court judge; Rishi Kumar Shukla, former Central Bureau of Investigation director; and LR Bishnoi, retired director general of police, Meghalaya.
“The HPEC shall examine all issues enumerated in paragraphs 12 and 13 of the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s Order dated August 18, 2026, and paragraph 5(i) of the order dated September 10, 2026.
Priority will be given to matters pertaining to the use of pellet guns, targeted violence and harassment of female protestors, and excessive violence and destruction of property occasioned on either side,” a government statement said.
On August 18, the SC constituted a five-member committee headed by former judge R Subhash Reddy to independently inquire into allegations of violence during the July 20 student protests. A comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, said the competing allegations made out a prima facie case for an independent and impartial investigation into allegations of excessive and disproportionate use of force by police and security personnel during the July 20 student protests, while also examining claims of violence against police personnel and damage to public property The inquiry will also examine far-reaching issues such as pellet gun use, mandatory uniforms for law enforcement personnel during crowd control, blanket prohibitory orders, the legality of police surveillance, and whether a BNS provision was stifling dissent.
