Delhi HC issues notice to Centre, Delhi Police over alleged force during July 20 CJP protest

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought responses from the Centre and Delhi Police on a batch of public interest litigations (PILs) alleging excessive use of force against protesters during the July 20 march to Parliament.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia issued notices to the respondents and directed them to file their counter affidavits within four weeks.

The court also directed the authorities to preserve all relevant records related to the incident, including CCTV footage, body camera recordings, videography and other digital evidence, in accordance with the established standard operating procedures (SOPs) of the Delhi Police or the Union government.


The petitions sought an independent inquiry into the alleged police action, with senior advocates N Hariharan, Vikas Singh and Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the petitioners, contending that excessive force was used against protesters, including women and children. They argued that the demonstrators were exercising their fundamental right to peacefully protest against alleged irregularities in the NEET examination.

Appearing for the Centre, Additional Solicitor General S V Raju opposed the petitions, submitting that they were based on social media posts and were not maintainable.

The matter has been listed for further hearing on September 11.

(With PTI inputs)