CJP Protest: Families of Injured Delhi Police Personnel Move Supreme Court Seeking Protection Guidelines

Families of four injured police personnel filed an intervention application in the Supreme Court to establish accountability and seek protection guidelines.

The injured personnel include ACP Kailash Singh Bisht, ASI Sandeep, Constable Dheeraj and ASI Hemendar Rathi.

Advocate-on-Record Venkata Raghuvamsy D filed the application to intervene in pending petitions that challenge the alleged use of force by Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel against student protesters.

Demands for Police Protection

The petitioners demand action against the perpetrators. They seek to fix accountability on those "responsible for instigating, abetting and inflicting violence on law enforcement personnel".

Protesters attacked police personnel deployed at Jantar Mantar and other parts of Delhi on July 20, 24 and 25. Assailants used stones, glass bottles, sharpened floor tiles and other objects.

Relatives of the injured officers also asked the Supreme Court to instruct the central government to establish rules protecting both women and men in uniform from physical attacks during their official shifts.

The application seeks a formal declaration that police and other law enforcement personnel are equally entitled to protection under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, including the right to life and personal liberty. It argues that while the right to protest is constitutionally protected, it cannot extend to acts of violence against public servants performing their statutory responsibilities.

Supreme Court Protocol Review

Pending petitions demand judicial scrutiny of the police response. These pleas seek the registration of FIRs against Delhi Police and Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel for alleged excessive force.

A Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant stated on Monday that a lathi-charge cannot happen simply due to an agitation.

Chief Justice Kant said, "Right to peaceful, lawful protest absolutely guaranteed under Constitution. So long as it is peaceful agitation, merely because there is agitation, there can’t be excess...If there is excess committed, it should be independently examined. It’s not only a case of Delhi. Uniformity in protocol required. Merely because agitation there, doesn’t mean lathi-charge. Discipline integral to democratic process."

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) previously led a 36-day agitation demanding greater transparency in examinations, accountability for those responsible for paper leaks, exam reforms and the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Pradhan subsequently stepped down.

During the 'Sansad Chalo' march last week, thousands of protesters marched towards Parliament, triggering clashes, tear gas shelling, detentions and widespread disruption across central Delhi. The event saw allegations of excessive police force alongside counter-allegations of protester violence. The agitation ended after the Centre agreed to the remaining demands, including withdrawing FIRs against protesters and providing compensation to the families of students who allegedly died by suicide following the NEET paper leak controversy.