SCBA President Writes to Modi, Shah Over Police Action on Student Protesters

New Delhi: Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Vikas Singh on Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking a judicial inquiry into the police action on students and lawyers during the July 20 protests in Jantar Mantar.

In his representation, the senior advocate alleged that police resorted to an "unprovoked and disproportionate" lathi-charge on peaceful protesters, resulting in injuries to students, lawyers, journalists and medical personnel.

"I address this representation with profound concern over a dual administrative collapse that strikes at the core of our constitutional democracy: the unlawful and disproportionate police violence inflicted upon peaceful student assemblies, and the failure of state machinery in conducting various national examinations fairly," he said.

Citing media reports and eyewitness accounts, Singh alleged that police personnel struck protesters on the head, used excessive force, deployed tear gas indiscriminately, dismantled a hunger strike, and assaulted journalists and doctors attending to the injured.

He also claimed several police personnel were operating without mandatory name badges and questioned the official version regarding injuries to police personnel.

"Reports published verify that male police officers lathi-charged female protesters and minors, including a 16-year-old student who sustained injuries," he said in the letter.

The SCBA chief said the alleged police action violated Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution, provisions of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and judicial directions requiring minimum use of force while dispersing assemblies.

"Targeting of Non-Protesting Medical Teams and Brutality on Injured Patients: Eyewitness testimony and ground footage establish that police intentionally attacked medical doctors and healthcare personnel who were neither protesting nor chanting any slogans, but purely administering first aid," he said.

Referring to recurring paper leak incidents in national and state-level examinations, Singh said repeated failures in conducting fair examinations had pushed students into despair and eroded confidence in public institutions.

He urged the Centre to constitute a time-bound judicial commission headed by a sitting or retired Supreme Court judge to inquire into the police action and examine the larger issue of examination paper leaks.

Singh also sought the immediate suspension of the Delhi Police commissioner to facilitate a fair inquiry, registration of FIRs against officials allegedly responsible for the use of force, and fixation of administrative accountability on the Ministry of Education for repeated lapses in safeguarding the integrity of competitive examinations.

On Monday, thousands of students demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak issue and alleged irregularities in the examination system attempted to march to Parliament but were resisted with tear gas and batons.