Centre, Delhi Police Seek Quashing Of 13 FIRs Linked To July 20 Protests
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Summarized by AI; it may make mistakes. Check important info
The Centre and Delhi Police have approached the Supreme Court seeking the quashing of 13 FIRs registered in connection with the July 20 protests at Jantar Mantar led by Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), while proposing that fresh FIRs be filed only against the 2,873 people allegedly linked to serious criminal incidents. The Supreme Court is likely to hear the plea on Tuesday.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta raised the matter before a bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, requesting an urgent hearing. The Centre has invoked Article 142 of the Constitution, which empowers the apex court to issue orders necessary to deliver complete justice in matters before it.
Chief Justice Kant observed that if the parties were reconciling, the court had no difficulty, thereby granting permission to place the application on record for an early hearing.
Legal Obstacles to Dropping Charges
The decision to approach the top court directly stems from procedural hurdles within criminal law. While state authorities and Union ministries can decide to withdraw prosecutions, police FIRs cannot simply be erased by executive decree once registered.
Under the Code of Criminal Procedure, law enforcement agencies must submit formal closure reports to local magistrates. Magistrates hold independent judicial discretion to reject these reports and order further investigation or proceed to trial, potentially leaving thousands of students tied down in protracted litigation for years.
Article 142(1) empowers the Supreme Court to pass any decree or order necessary for doing "complete justice" in any cause or matter pending before it, acting as a mechanism to fill legislative gaps where existing laws fail to provide a specific remedy. By seeking an overarching order from the Supreme Court, the government aims to bypass lower-court delays and cleanly extinguish the cases nationwide in one stroke.
The apex court had previously signalled during hearings on August 18 that it was open to using these extraordinary constitutional powers to clear the dockets, acknowledging the legal complications involved in individual state-level withdrawals.
Political Pressure Ahead of Rally
The legal move arrives amid mounting political pressure in New Delhi. The Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) had announced plans for a major demonstration in the national capital on September 5, accusing the Centre of reneging on assurances made to student unions.
The unconditional withdrawal of all criminal charges against student activists formed a central condition of the July 25 agreement that temporarily brought weeks of nationwide agitational politics to a halt. Mass protests had erupted across multiple states in July over allegations of compromised paper integrity in competitive entrance examinations, resulting in heavy police action and mass detentions.
With the September 5 deadline looming and student groups threatening to reoccupy public spaces, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Union Law Ministry moved swiftly to demonstrate compliance with the truce terms.
