Drop charges against student protesters, state tells police chiefs

Another officer stated that these cases will be taken up on priority. Unlike routine social or political cases withdrawn through government approval, police will likely refer these to district- or city-level committees, bypassing the state-level committee led by information and technology minister Ashish Shelar

MUMBAI: The state home department has instructed the commissioner of police in cities where students protested against the alleged NEET-UG paper leaks, to expedite the withdrawal of cases against them and not summon them to police stations for further investigation, a top officer from the home department said. This, the officer said, would help those student protesters who need to process their visa or speed up admission processes for higher studies which may be affected by the pending cases against them.

Mumbai, India. July 23, 2026 - Mumbai police detained students and Cockroach Janta Party supporters during protests at Shivaji Park in Dadar. Students and supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party gathered at Shivaji Park in Dadar to show solidarity with the CJP's protest in Delhi. Mumbai, India. July 23, 2026. (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo) (Raju Shinde)

In an order issued on Friday, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis who also helms the state home department, directed the director general of police (DGP) Sadanand Date to ensure that no penal or legal action is taken against the young protesters. The order follows Fadnavis’s direction to the home department on Tuesday to begin the process of withdrawing cases against the students.

“As cases can only be withdrawn after charge sheets are filed -- the time limit of which is between 90 and 120 days -- we have directed police to file them early,” said an officer from the home department. “This will enable the police to withdraw the cases within a few weeks, unlike other political or social cases, which often take months to be withdrawn.”

“Once the process is completed at the district or city level, the courts where the cases are pending will be requested to permit their withdrawal,” the officer said.

The officer added that since the cases did not involve any violence or loss of life, the investigation and filing of charge sheets are unlikely to take much time. “Most of the cases registered are minor and relate to violations of prohibitory orders. Very few students have been named in the FIRs,” he said, adding, 17 FIRs have been registered in Mumbai, with even fewer cases in cities such as Pune, Nagpur and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

Officials clarified that there is no legal provision for quashing FIRs in such cases and that withdrawing the criminal cases must be routed through the respective courts. Other states, including Assam and Bihar, are following the same procedure, and the debate over quashing FIRs versus withdrawing cases is largely a matter of legal semantics, said an officer from the department.