Supreme Court gives enquiry panel one month to submit report on July protest violence

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday gave the High Powered Enquiry Committee (HPEC) one month to submit an initial fact-finding report on violence during student protests at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar in July.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said the committee had received very few complaints from people affected by the violence. The panel could not reach any finding without sufficient material, the bench said.

Justice Joymalya Bagchi also formed part of the bench, which directed that all petitions, videos and complaints concerning the violence be forwarded to the committee. The court’s direction requires that these records reach the panel for its examination of the allegations.

Few complaints received

During the hearing, the committee told the court that it had published notices in 149 newspapers to invite complaints about violence during the July 20 march to Parliament. Despite the newspaper notices, only a small number of people submitted complaints through online channels or in physical form, the panel said.

The committee also informed the bench that it issued a fresh appeal on October 21, asking people to submit complaints. The court granted the panel a month to prepare its initial report after hearing its account of the limited response.

Five-member enquiry panel

The Supreme Court set up the committee in August to examine allegations of violence against both student protesters and police personnel. Its remit covered demonstrations at Jantar Mantar and elsewhere in the country. Former Supreme Court judge R Subhash Reddy heads the five-member panel.

Its other members are former Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Ravi Shankar Jha, former Delhi High Court judge Shalinder Kaur, former CBI director Rishi Kumar Shukla and retired Meghalaya director general of police LR Bishnoi.

Protests over NEET

Students held the demonstrations to demand the resignation of then Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan after the NEET-UG paper leak in May. Jantar Mantar, Delhi’s designated protest venue at the time, became the main gathering point for the student demonstrations. Protests later spread to other parts of the country.

Pradhan resigned on July 25, after which the protests ended. The committee’s enquiry concerns allegations of violence during those demonstrations.