India’s Top Court Shields NEET Protesters, Weighs Police Probe

Interim relief reaches protesters nationwide

India’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the immediate release of minors detained during protests over the NEET medical entrance-exam paper leak and barred coercive action against participating students without criminal antecedents.sg +1 The three-judge bench also directed authorities to preserve surveillance and communications records while it considers an independent inquiry into allegations of police excesses.lawbeat

The protections apply across states where demonstrations took place, although police may continue investigating registered cases. The court separately prohibited authorities from putting protesters’ personal or digital information into the public domain.openthemagazine +1

Evidence preservation precedes a probe decision

Chief Justice Surya Kant, sitting with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, said the allegations presented a prima facie case for a fair and independent investigation. The proposed inquiry would examine accusations involving pellet guns, electric batons, lathi charges, plainclothes officers and assaults on protesters and journalists, as well as complaints from injured police personnel.lawbeat +1

The preservation order covers CCTV and drone footage, body-camera recordings, wireless communications and police-control-room call logs. Notices were issued to the Union government and officials in Delhi and several states, with the court due to consider their responses at the next hearing on August 3.thehindu

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court the government did not object to an independent investigation. He argued that about 250 officers had been injured and suggested that people with criminal backgrounds may have infiltrated otherwise student-led demonstrations; the bench said both accounts required evidence-based scrutiny.sg +1

The ruling extends beyond immediate custody

The petitions arose from demonstrations that included a July 20 march toward Parliament in New Delhi. Protesters demanding accountability over the exam leak encountered barricades, tear gas and baton charges, while petitioners alleged disproportionate force and unlawful detention.lawbeat +1

The court’s intervention does not yet create the proposed high-powered committee or Special Investigation Team. It instead freezes key evidence and limits enforcement while governments submit their versions, leaving the composition and scope of any inquiry unresolved.thehindu +1

The bench also signaled that older rules governing crowd control may need updating. That could turn a case centered on arrests and alleged violence into a broader review of when police may use force, how officers should be identified at demonstrations and how authorities handle data collected from protesters.lawbeat +1