The Supreme Court has formed a five-member High-Powered Enquiry Committee (HPEC) headed by former judge R Subhash Reddy to probe alleged police excesses during NEET protests. The order was issued on July 18 but made public only on Thursday, August 20.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana directed the panel to examine allegations of police excesses, violence against protesters and counter-allegations of violence and vandalism by demonstrators during the protests.
The committee will examine 12 issues, including the use of pellet guns, electric batons, lathicharge and tear gas, alleged violence and harassment of women protesters, surveillance of demonstrators, the use of prohibitory orders and the invocation of Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
R Subhash Reddy, who will head the committee, served as a judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court before his elevation to the Supreme Court in 2018. He was the first judge from Telangana to be elevated to the Supreme Court and retired in January 2022.
The other members of the committee are former Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Ravi Shankar Jha, former Delhi High Court judge Justice Shalinder Kaur, former CBI director Rishi Kumar Shukla and retired Meghalaya DGP LR Bishnoi.
The Supreme Court directed the committee to submit its first interim report at the earliest on allegations of excessive force against protesters and alleged targeted violence, harassment, molestation and secondary victimisation of women protesters.
The court said the panel will also examine the police chain of command to identify those responsible for directions that allegedly led to excessive use of force. The committee will consider whether interim compensation should be awarded to injured protesters and police personnel.
According to a police affidavit, 248 police personnel and 218 protesters were injured during the July 20 demonstrations. Police attributed the violence to criminal elements who allegedly infiltrated the student protesters.
The panel will also examine whether pellet guns and other metallic kinetic projectiles should be banned during crowd-control operations, given the serious injuries they can cause.
Other issues include whether police and security personnel should be required to wear uniforms and visible nameplates during crowd-control operations to ensure individual accountability, and whether surveillance of protesters was consistent with their rights to privacy and free assembly.
The court has further asked the committee to examine the use of blanket prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and whether such orders should be issued only in response to a real and imminent threat to public order.
The panel has also been asked to examine safeguards governing Section 152 of the BNS, despite the provision being under challenge before the Supreme Court. The court said it should consider strict constitutional thresholds to prevent the provision from being invoked to stifle political dissent and peaceful protest.
The allegations of violence by protesters against police and security personnel, damage to public and private property, and injuries and mental and emotional trauma suffered by police personnel and their families would also be probed.
The Supreme Court directed police authorities, paramilitary forces and other investigating agencies to provide the committee with CCTV footage, drone footage, body-worn camera recordings, videography, wireless communication records and PCR call logs relating to the protests.
The committee may enlist forensic, technical and other domain experts and will periodically submit findings on these issues to the Supreme Court.
The protests on July 20 were organised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), with students marching towards Parliament over alleged examination paper leaks. Police used tear gas and lathicharge after protesters attempted to move beyond barricades, while authorities maintained that sections of the crowd had turned violent and resorted to stone-pelting.
The Supreme Court has also indicated that it may consider quashing FIRs registered against student protesters in connection with the demonstrations, including by exercising its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution.