The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear the plea of students on the matter related to the alleged police action on students in Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia University during anti-citizenship protests and Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh which took place on Sunday.
The Supreme Court had announced that hearing on the above matter will be done on Tuesday, December 17, only when violent protests stop and the matter is not aggravated any further said by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bobde.
Lawyers Indira Jaising and Colin Gonsalves had appealed the apex court to look into the violence against students and send retired judges to the two universities to investigate what actually had gone.
Indira Jaising had said, it is a serious matter of human riots violation. We are here to request violence existing all over the country. This kind of violence, the Supreme Court must take suo motu (on its own motion).
In fact, the Supreme Court bench had, earlier, refused to hear the matter saying that let this entire stop first and then only the hearing will be done.
We can’t be terrorized like this only because someone is being asked to leave the campus etc., public properties are being destroyed, buses are being burnt. This must stop immediately remarked the CJI and further, he said, just because they happen to be students, it doesn’t mean they can take law and order in their hands, this has to be determined when things cool down.
Without the peace of mind, things cannot be decided. Let the rioting stop first, the CJI said on Monday, when advocate Jaising had asked for the pleading upon the CJI to initiate suo motu proceedings to inquire into the entire episode. Gonsalves also mentioned his petition, filed on behalf of Human Rights Law Network, for hearing.
Chief Justice replied angrily that we don’t want to be alleged at payment. We are not to be frightened like this. We will look into it and see what to do. It is a law and order problem and for this let the police handle the situation. Let me see what can be done. If someone wants to take to streets, don’t come to the court. He also said we are not against peaceful demonstrations.
Anyhow, the CJI finally asked the lawyers to circulate their petitions and applications and said the matter will be taken up tomorrow. It also gave a warning it will be heard only if there is no further rise in the existing issue. If protests and destruction of public properties continue, a hearing will not be in process.
Heavy destruction in the city went on Sunday (15.12.2019), three buses were set on fire and several other vehicles destroyed as anti-citizenship law protesters, which led to clashes between some students of Jamia Milia Islamia University with police near New Friends Colony in South Delhi. This has ended with dozens of people and several cops injured.
Though, the police have been accused of using excessive force including lathi charge and opening of tear gas during student protests that turned violent at the two universities on Sunday evening. Delhi Police negated the allegations and said that they applied very minimum force to control the situation from escalation.
