Observing that the right to peaceful protest is guaranteed, the Supreme Court agreed to hear on Tuesday a batch of pleas alleging police excesses against students protesting over NEET paper leak across the country and other exam irregularities.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana also agreed to take up a separate plea, filed by a few family members of those police personnel who were attacked during the protest, along with other listed petitions. “The Right to peaceful protest is absolutely guaranteed. That cannot be denied. Merely because there is agitation cannot justify police excesses,” the CJI said.
“Life of every individual irrespective of who they are is important,” the bench asserted when a lawyer said that police personnel were also beaten up.
“There should be a protocol in place. There should be proper space and no restriction. But if there are some anti-social elements etc that can be taken care of. This is not a question of Delhi only. Uniformity of protocol is needed,” the bench said.
