The Delhi High Court on Tuesday refused to entertain an oral request for urgent listing of a petition alleging excessive use of force by the Delhi Police against protesters during the agitation led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) in the national capital, observing that the Court should not be drawn into every issue arising out of the ongoing protests.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia made these observations when a counsel sought an urgent hearing of a writ petition alleging that the Delhi Police had used excessive force against protesters during demonstrations held on Monday. Responding to the mentioning, the Chief Justice remarked that the Court should not be dragged into such matters.
The petition related to protests organised by students from different parts of the country and members of CJP, an online satirical collective, who had assembled at Jantar Mantar and other locations in central Delhi to demand accountability for repeated examination paper leaks and to seek the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
According to the petition and media reports, the protesters intended to march towards Parliament. However, the Delhi Police intervened and stopped the march, following which clashes allegedly broke out between the protesters and the police. It was alleged that the police resorted to a lathi charge and used tear gas to disperse the crowd, resulting in injuries to several protesters.
The writ petition has been filed alleging excessive use of force by the police during the protest and seeks judicial intervention in relation to the alleged violation of the protesters’ legal and constitutional rights. The High Court, however, did not pass any substantive order on the merits of the allegations at the stage of oral mentioning.
The post Delhi High Court declines urgent listing of plea alleging police excesses during CJP protest appeared first on India Legal.