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Informist, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court Tuesday said it will constitute a high-powered judicial committee to probe the violence during protests in Delhi and other states demanding the resignation of then Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The top court said it will await the committee's recommendations from time to time, and that necessary legal consequences will follow.

 

"We are constituting a committee comprising a former Supreme Court judge, a former chief justice of a high court, and another officer who retired at the level of Director General of Police," said a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant. "We will provide all necessary infrastructure facilities to the committee. We are quite sure that the committee will give an immediate voice and audience to any victim who approaches it."

 

The court said the committee will examine issues as they arise and submit periodic reports. This will enable the court to pass further directions, including interim directions wherever necessary. The high-powered committee can take up issues requiring immediate attention, the court said. It said the court does not want to prescribe a rigid timeline for the committee. The panel will hear all sides and the court does not expect it to proceed ex parte. The committee can also engage domain experts wherever scientific or technical issues arise, and the necessary assistance will be given, it said.

 

The committee can examine the factual questions, including whether police used excessive force against the protestors. Pursuant to the committee's report, the larger legal and constitutional questions concerning use of facial recognition technology by police on protestors will be considered, the court said.

 

The top court also sought suggestions from the petitioners as to who could be on the panel, a former director of the Central Bureau of Investigation or a former director general of police of a state. "We do not want a situation tomorrow where somebody raises an objection because there are allegations involving the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) and therefore questions the inclusion of a former CBI director," the court said.

 

The top court said it is considering quashing all first information reports against the students who were protesting peacefully. "The states can give us a list of FIRs where only students are involved," the chief justice said. "Let us identify the area where there is no controversy and no dispute. In those FIRs, where only students are involved, Ms (Vrinda) Grover (advocate for petitioners) is right. We can invoke Article 142 (of the Constitution) and quash those FIRs. There is no difficulty. The law is well settled regarding the power of this court, and we can exercise that power." The cases of persons who were previously involved in serious offences such as rape, murder, and kidnapping can be considered separately, he added.

 

"This is a question concerning their (students') lives and futures," Chief Justice Kant said. "Their parents are spending their hard-earned money on their education. They have a future to live. They have legitimate expectations from the system. We have to build up their confidence."

 

In July, tens of thousands of protesters marched through the streets of Lutyens's Delhi, demanding Pradhan's resignation over irregularities in the conduct of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduates) 2026 in May. Protesters breached police barricades in an attempt to march to Parliament. According to reports, around 50,000 people, mostly youngsters, confronted 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, Pradhan resigned from the Cabinet. The satirical social media handle Cockroach Janta Party, which had called for the protests, announced the withdrawal of its agitation over the alleged paper leak in the pre-medical entrance examination, saying the Centre had accepted its demands.

 

The petitioners sought the Supreme Court's intervention over multiple incidents of violence during protests by demonstrators, predominantly students, at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi and other locations in the capital. They said the violence later spread to Maharashtra, Bihar, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, and Kerala. The petitioners also alleged that some violence was perpetrated by police personnel, both in uniform and plainclothes.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Himanshi Gupta

 

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