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Informist, Friday, Jul. 24, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court Friday agreed to hear Monday pleas alleging excessive use of force by the Delhi Police against protesters demanding the sacking of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over irregularities in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for Undergraduates examination. Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan said there is urgency in the case as police are using excessive force against "children". "It is just going on unabated," he said. "Some controls are necessary. The court stands between us and the police." The court had earlier refused to take up a letter petition raising the issue of police force on protesters at Jantar Mantar in the national capital.

 

The Delhi High Court is already hearing similar pleas against the Delhi Police and has sought responses from the Centre as well as the police. In the high court, the petitioners have sought action against police officers for ordering a lathi-charge and the use of tear-gas and water cannons on protesters. The court has directed preservation of closed-circuit television footage of the action.

 

In a related case, the high court Friday dismissed a petition seeking a National Investigation Agency probe against the protesters. The court said that under the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008, the agency can only be activated upon the satisfaction of the central government and the courts cannot substitute the government. "See your prayers. It is in respect of issuing directions to NIA to conduct inquiry and investigation, etc. That is for authorities to consider if a crime reported has to be probed by the state government or state police. So far as your prayer for NIA is concerned, it is for the Centre to take a call. It can be suo motu or initiated on a report submitted by SHO (station house officer). We cannot substitute our satisfaction to satisfaction which is to be recorded by the central government," it said.

 

Monday, tens of thousands of protesters had taken over the streets of Lutyens's Delhi, demanding Pradhan's resignation. The protesters broke through police barricades to march on Parliament. According to reports, a crowd of 50,000 people, mostly young men and women, challenged the security forces at dozens of locations across the New Delhi police district. Police and anti-riot forces responded with batons, tear gas, and water cannons, injuring scores of protestors. Thereafter, the protest has continued with the protesters saying they will only stop after Pradhan quits.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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