New Delhi: In an application filed before the Supreme Court, the Delhi Police has sought quashing of 13 FIRs against protesters who took part in the stir called by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). The application also seeks permission to file a fresh FIR against 2,873 history sheeters who the police alleged had visited the protest site.
This investigation, the police told the court, would be an exercise to probe the role of these history sheeters to ascertain their involvement, if any, in the commission of offences related to bodily harm or destruction of property at the protest site.
Referring to FIRs against protesters, the application provides a list of 13 cases registered across five police stations. Five were lodged at Parliament Street police station, five at Connaught Place and one each at Kartavya Path, Barakhamba Road and Mandir Marg.
Sections invoked in these FIRs range from rioting and attempted murder to damage to public property.
The application assures the apex court that no fresh FIR will be filed in connection with the same incidents as mentioned in the application. “In view of the larger public interest and in the peculiar facts of this case, the applicant invokes the extraordinary jurisdiction of this honourable court under Article 142 of the Constitution of India, praying for quashing of the FIRs mentioned in the above chart,” submits the application.
Under Article 142 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court can issue orders to render complete justice by passing orders on subjects that may not be directly pending before it or requires it to go beyond pleadings made in the case.
The Delhi Police application also requests the court to issue a clarification while quashing the FIRs, which is that its order setting aside all the 13 criminal cases is passed in view of the peculiar facts of the case, and that it shall not be treated as a precedent.
Earlier in the day, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had informed the top court about Delhi Police’s intention to file the application seeking quashing of FIRs registered against protesters over alleged violence during the protest called by CJP at Jantar Mantar to demand the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the government’s handling of the 2026 NEET-UG paper leak.
Mehta mentioned the plea before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, which agreed to hear the matter on 1 September.
The application comes pursuant to the top court making it clear that police in Delhi and other states, which registered FIRs against protesters, should consider dropping the charges provided there were no other serious criminal cases pending against those booked.
But the court had asked the state police machinery to distinguish between genuine protesters and those with criminal antecedents, saying investigation should continue against the latter.
The Supreme Court’s views came on a batch of petitions highlighting police excesses during the ‘Sansad Chalo’ protest march in New Delhi on 20 July as well as similar demonstrations held in Bihar.
The top court has already constituted a three-member panel headed by a former Supreme Court judge to look into the students’ allegations as well as counter-charges made by family members of police officials who were allegedly attacked during the protest.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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