Supreme Court quashes FIRs against student protesters

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed several first information reports (FIRs) registered by the police in Delhi, Bihar, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Assam in connection with the recent agitation led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) over the issue of examination paper leaks.

Observing that "participating in a protest per se would not constitute an offence", a three-member bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana invoked Article 142 of the Constitution to quash the criminal cases.

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The court quashed FIRs after the central and state governments moved applications seeking quashing of the criminal cases. SC also directed that similar FIRs in other states and Union Territories, other than Delhi, Bihar, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Assam, shall not be pursued or investigated, meaning they shall be considered closed for all intents and purposes.

"Keeping in view the future prospects of the young protesters who came to participate in a peaceful protest to raise their voice in support of certain demands, we deem it appropriate to invoke our powers under Article 142 of the Constitution in order to do complete justice between the parties," the bench said in its order.

In view of the quashing of FIRs, the CJP on Tuesday decided to withdraw its call for a march on September 5.

Appearing on behalf of the Centre, solicitor general Tushar Mehta assured SC that the agencies would not pursue FIRs linked to the specified protest incidents and that no fresh FIRs would be registered for the same incidents. He further assured that the government stood by its assurance on compensation and sought three months' time to finalise the modalities in consultation with the states and other stakeholders.

Allowing the request, the bench ordered that the Centre "shall formulate a policy with respect to payment of compensation on a pan-India basis". The bench ordered that "such policy shall be circulated to all the state governments concerned and implementing authorities, so that it can be adopted as a regular mechanism for payment of compensation".

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As regards the students who died by suicide in connection with NEET 2026, compensation shall be paid to the affected families after the formulation of the policy. The policy shall be formulated within a period of three months, the bench ordered.

Govt: Prosecution against 2,873 individuals in Delhi to Continue

The Centre, however, said it would continue prosecution against 2,873 individuals in Delhi with "serious criminal antecedents", as per the National Crime Records Bureau database. The investigation will be limited to offences involving bodily harm or destruction of property. The bench on Tuesday gave liberty to the Delhi Police to lodge fresh FIRs in this regard. "Such an FIR can be registered without prejudice to the rights of the affected parties to seek remedies available to them in law, and strictly confined to... bodily harm and destruction of property," the SC said.

As regards the other 13 FIRs registered by different state/UT police departments, the bench directed that no fresh FIRs shall be registered with regard to the protests that took place between July 20 and 25.