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Supreme Court forms panel to examine use of force by police in Delhi's July 20 protest
Scores of students had participated in the CJP-led protest march to Parliament on July 20, seeking the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan and wider exam reforms.
The Supreme Court on Thursday constituted a five-member high-powered committee headed by its former judge R Subhash Reddy to conduct an independent inquiry into allegations of excessive and disproportionate use of force by police and security personnel during the July 20 student protests. The panel will also examine claims of violence by protesters against police personnel and damage to public property.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said the competing allegations made out a prima facie case for an independent and impartial investigation.
The committee comprises justice (retd) R Subhash Reddy, former Supreme Court judge, as chairperson; justice (retd) Ravi Shankar Jha, former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court; justice (retd) Shalinder Kaur, former Delhi High Court judge; Rishi Kumar Shukla, former CBI director; and L R Bishnoi, retired director general of police, Meghalaya.
What will the committee do?
The court said the composition took into account the members' expertise and experience, as well as the need for diversity on the panel.
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The committee has been given a wide-ranging mandate. It will examine allegations that police and other security agencies used pellet guns, electric batons, lathi charges and tear gas without adequate warning or proportionality, causing grievous and lasting injuries to protesters.
It will also examine whether police responses during protests and public gatherings were proportionate and adequately balanced the maintenance of public order with the constitutional right to peaceful dissent.
Significantly, the committee will consider whether the use of metallic kinetic projectiles or pellets fired from pump-action or projectile-action guns should be banned, given the grave and sometimes irreversible injuries allegedly caused by their deployment against protesters.
The panel will further examine whether police and security personnel should be required to wear proper uniforms and visible nameplates while making arrests or using force during crowd-control operations, to ensure that individual officers can be identified and held accountable.
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The committee will also inquire into allegations concerning the monitoring and surveillance of protesters and whether such measures were consistent with their constitutional rights to privacy and peaceful assembly.
The court has asked the panel to give priority to allegations of targeted violence, harassment, molestation and secondary victimisation of women protesters. It will also examine the medical and other support extended to victims of alleged police abuse and consider the question of interim compensation for injured protesters.
Another area of inquiry will be the use of blanket prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023. The committee will examine whether such orders are being used routinely or pre-emptively to foreclose peaceful assembly rather than as a proportionate response to a real and imminent threat to public order.
It will similarly examine the invocation of Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which criminalises acts that endanger the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India, and assess whether the provision is being used to stifle political dissent and peaceful protests.
'Inquiry won't be one-sided'
At the same time, the Supreme Court made clear that the inquiry would not be one-sided.
The authorities had alleged that anti-social elements with serious criminal antecedents had masqueraded as aggrieved students and indulged in violence, resulting in clashes in which police personnel suffered grievous injuries.
The committee has therefore also been directed to examine the alleged use of force and violence by protesters against police and security personnel, damage caused to public property, including government installations and vehicles, and injuries suffered by police personnel as well as the mental and emotional trauma caused to their families.
The court said all these issues merited examination and permitted the committee to consider any other issue incidental to them. The panel can enlist forensic, technical and domain experts wherever necessary.
The court specifically directed the committee to examine the chain of command behind alleged police excesses, identify those responsible and determine whether existing laws, rules or norms were breached in the use of force. It will also examine interim compensation for injured persons on both sides.
The inquiry will not be a one-time exercise. The court directed the committee to undertake a continuous and periodic assessment and submit interim findings so that the Supreme Court can take appropriate measures and issue directions as warranted.
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The first interim report, dealing with alleged grievous injuries caused by police and security personnel and allegations of targeted violence, harassment and molestation of women protesters, has been sought at the earliest.
The court, however, cautioned that the broader constitutional questions arising from the case would be decided by the Supreme Court itself after hearing the rival contentions. The committee would primarily assist the court by examining factual aspects.
The order also gives protesters and other affected persons a direct avenue to approach the committee. Parties may submit documentary evidence, relevant material and suggestions to the HPEC. Complaints and representations can also be made anonymously to protect the identity of complainants and witnesses.
The police, paramilitary forces and investigating agencies have been directed to preserve and hand over to the committee all CCTV footage, drone footage, body-worn camera recordings, videography, wireless communication records and PCR call logs relating to the protests.
The court also clarified that constitution of the HPEC would not prevent police or security authorities from taking administrative or disciplinary action against officers found to have violated conduct rules.
The order follows the Supreme Court’s July 28 intervention, when it found a prima facie case for an independent investigation into allegations of violence during the protests and directed authorities to release detained or arrested children below 18 years, subject to an exception for those accused of grave and heinous offences or having serious criminal antecedents.
The court had also directed authorities to preserve the personal information and digital data of protesters collected during the demonstrations and barred its disclosure or publication in the public domain.
The July 20 protest
The July 20 protests generated competing claims over the conduct of both protesters and police. Petitioners alleged indiscriminate use of force, including pellet guns, electric batons, lathi charges and tear gas, while police maintained that protesters had breached multiple barricades and attempted to proceed towards Parliament, necessitating a graded response.
The Delhi Police has claimed that more than 240 police and uniformed personnel and around 200 protesters were injured, with around 5,000 police personnel deployed to manage a gathering it estimated at over 30,000 protesters spread across nearly three kilometres.
