New Delhi: After the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) warning of fresh sit-in, the Delhi government on Thursday directed Delhi Police to close cases registered in connection with student protests and release those arrested or detained. However, the protection has not been extended to individuals with prior cases against them.
The Home Department of the Delhi Government has cited the interim order of the Supreme Court issued on July 28 that instructed states to release children under the age of 18 while allowing investigation to continue, and said the protection would not apply to individuals with criminal antecedents.
For the arrests and detentions already made related to student protests, the government said the process for reviewing the arrests and releasing them will be undertaken expeditiously.
The Delhi Govt also made it clear that it does not aim to take any further adverse action against individuals involved in the protests, and the cases shall be closed with no future proceedings.
The move comes a day after Union Health Minister JP Nadda, who was one of the negotiators with CJP on behalf of the union government, while speaking in the Rajya Sabha, said that activists who take order in their own hands, must be prepared to face the consequences. “It is a normal situation. A student activist has to face… and those who take law and order in their own hands, the police have to act accordingly. And the police have acted accordingly for those cases,” said Nadda.
Following Nadda’s statement, the CJP had issued a warning to the government of initiating fresh mobilisation against their ‘backtracking’ on assurances extended by the union government during discussions between the two sides. According to the CJP, the union govt had agreed to issue a written guarantee to not initiate any future punitive action against any of the protestors, apart from withdrawing all FIRs lodged in connection with the protests.
According to the statement by the Delhi Government, 13 cases related to the protests had been registered by Delhi Police.
The CJP had not reacted to the decision by the time of going to the press. However, their Chief Spokesperson Saurav Das on Tuesday had criticised the order of the apex court, which the Delhi Government has relied upon to continue investigation against those with previous cases, and expressed apprehension that the order could be weaponised against protestors.
“If criminals roamed, police must apply for cancellation of bail in their old cases. Must also answer why they were roaming so freely in society. But government can’t use this excuse to pursue FIRs so it can later target genuine protesters. If given this leeway, the government will, of course, use it,” wrote Das in a post on X.
Elaborating on the apprehension, Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) Vice-President and Student Federation of India (SFI) member Gopika Babu, had said to NewsX earlier, “Most of us activists and protest organisers have cases against us. Any distinction between other protestors and us would give govt a free run. Eventually, others too would be harassed in the name of investigation against us citing connections.”
Before Delhi, governments of Assam, Bihar, West Bengal and Maharashtra had issued orders to drop or withdraw investigations and FIRs against protesters.