Listen to them, understand why they are shouting: Supreme Court on plea for action against CJP protestors

The Supreme Court on Wednesday observed that authorities should seek to understand the concerns of protesting youngsters instead of allowing situations to escalate into violence.

A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohan was hearing a plea by retired Air Force officers seeking action against the organisers of the Jantar Mantar protests for their alleged role in the July 20 demonstrations.

The plea alleged that statements made by leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) incited protesters.

During the hearing, CJI Kant stressed the need for restraint while dealing with demonstrations.

"We need to tread carefully so that these youngsters do not indulge in violence. The better course is to counsel them and pacify them. The most powerful tool is listening. Listen to them and understand why they are shouting," said CJI Kant.

The Supreme Court has been hearing a batch of petitions arising from the protests held at Delhi's Jantar Mantar and other parts of India over repeated question paper leaks.

The protests began in June following a call by the online collective Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which demanded the resignation of then Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over repeated question paper leaks.

The protests culminated in a "Sansad Chalo" march to Parliament on July 20 despite the Delhi Police stating that permission had not been granted for the march.

Clashes broke out during the march, with allegations that the police resorted to disproportionate force including lathi charges, tear gas and pellet guns to disperse the student protesters

Pradhan resigned on July 25, following which the protests were called off.

Notably, on July 28, the Supreme Court directed that no coercive action be taken against protesters and ordered the immediate release of minors detained by the police across different States.

The plea before the Court today was filed by retired Air Force officers seeking action against organisers of the protests.

The petitioner's counsel argued that while accountability has been sought from the government and the police over the events of July 20, no action has been taken against the organisers of the protest even after 15 days. He submitted that the organisers are continuing to make provocative public statements and should be held responsible for the resulting violence.

Organisers of public gatherings are routinely held accountable for lapses, the counsel argued.

"Even where there is a congregation, say a religious congregation, if there is an act of negligence, or even if there is a fire in the pandal, the organisers are held responsible. In fact, they are the first to be held responsible, be it an act of God, a stampede, or anything else. In the present case... if the Government is on the back foot, society cannot be on the back foot. The law cannot be on the back foot," the counsel submitted.

He further contended that allowing protesters to violate police-imposed conditions and attempt to march towards parliament despite permission being denied would set a dangerous precedent.

He also raised concerns over the security implications of the march, submitting that the authorities could not have known whether anyone in the crowd was carrying weapons.

"What if they had opened fire? They were not marching on a national highway. They were not marching on a railway line. They were marching towards the temple of democracy. Everyone must be held accountable," said the counsel.

CJI Kant said the priority should be to facilitate peaceful protests while ensuring that situations do not spiral out of control.

"What is important is to promote a peaceful march. If some incident takes place, the police also need to exercise a great deal of restraint to ensure that the situation does not go out of hand. Wherever such incidents take place, we need to deal with them very carefully," he said.

He also added that decisions on dealing with such situations should be left to the law enforcement authorities.

"But let us leave it to the wisdom of the law-enforcement agencies. They know better than you, and they know better than us, how to deal with this kind of situation," held CJI Kant.

Noting that another pending petition raised issues from the opposite perspective, the Court observed that both matters should be considered together.

It subsequently issued notice on the retired Air Force officers' plea and directed that it be tagged with the batch of pending petitions concerning the protests.

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