New Delhi, Jul 27 An agitation cannot justify "police excesses" or a 'lathi charge', the Supreme Court said on Monday while observing that the right to peaceful protest is absolutely guaranteed.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant also said it will hear on Tuesday a batch of pleas alleging police excesses against students protesting over NEET paper leak across the country and other exam irregularities.
Besides, the bench, also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, agreed to take up a separate plea filed by a few family members of those police personnel who were attacked during the protest along with other listed petitions.
“The right to peaceful protest is absolutely guaranteed. That cannot be denied. Merely because there is agitation cannot justify police excesses,” the CJI said.
The life of every individual irrespective of who they are is important, the bench asserted when a lawyer said police personnel were also beaten up.
“There should be a protocol in place. There should be proper space and no restriction. But if there are some anti-social elements etc that can be taken care of. This is not a question of Delhi only. Uniformity of protocol is needed,” the bench said.
"Just because there is agitation does not mean there is ‘lathi charge’... self-evolved discipline is needed which is essential to democratic process,” the CJI said and urged parties to assist the bench.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said he will assist the court dispassionately.
During a brief hearing, lawyer Fauzia Shakil said police in Bihar allegedly used AK-47 on protestors.
Senior advocate Vikas Singh added that Bihar also had a lot of attacks on students.
Earlier, the top court had agreed to hear on Monday the pleas alleging police excesses against students protesting over the NEET paper leak.
Students were staging protests in several states against the paper leak.
The Cockroach Janta Party-led march on July 20 in Delhi witnessed clashes between protesters and security personnel, who used lathis and teargas shells to disperse crowds attempting to move towards Parliament.
The protesters were demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak issue.
On Saturday, the CJP called off its 36-day agitation after Pradhan resigned and the government accepted its other demands. Pradhan announced his resignation in a statement, saying the developments of the past 10 days had "saddened" him deeply and that the issue was "not a matter of personal prestige".
On July 22, the Delhi High Court sought responses from the Centre and the Delhi Police on two separate pleas alleging excessive use of force against protesters during the July 20 march to Parliament.
The high court had directed the authorities to preserve all relevant records in relation to the police action, including CCTV camera footage and any videography.
