Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has dismissed as ‘reckless’ media reports that he had denied urgent hearing on a plea challenging the July 20 police action against students. He stated that no such petition was filed, and what was submitted was only a representation and not a petition. On Wednesday, a lawyer had sought urgent hearing on the police action against students during the Cockroach Janta Party-led protest march in New Delhi on July 20.
The lawyer had alleged that the students had been subjected to police brutality during the protest and had requested that the matter be listed for hearing the next day. However, the CJI had declined the request and made it clear that the Bench was not inclined to examine video footage at the mentioning stage. The CJI expressed his disappointment with the media reports, stating that ‘in the last two days, a completely false statement was made that a matter was filed, and the media is absolutely free from all responsibility and falsely reporting that the Chief Justice refused to list the matter.’ He emphasized that ’till morning 10 a.m., not a single page has been filed.
It was one representation…sent by Mishra or someone. How can I treat the representation as a writ petition? And people start recklessly reporting this.’ The Cockroach Janta Party-led march on July 20 witnessed clashes between protesters and security personnel, who used lathis and tear gas to disperse crowds attempting to move towards Parliament.
The protestors were demanding the resignation of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET exam ‘leak’ issue.
