Supreme Court Refuses to Reconstitute Panel Probing Police Action During Jantar Mantar Protests

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has refused to reconstitute the high-level committee set up to investigate the police crackdown during the students' protest at Jantar Mantar against the NEET-UG question paper leak.

The court was hearing a petition alleging that members of the committee had conflicting interests and seeking its reconstitution.

During the protests on July 20, police allegedly used pellet guns against students. Male police personnel were also accused of manhandling and brutally assaulting women protesters. The Supreme Court constituted the high-level committee on August 20 to investigate these allegations.

The committee is headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice R Subhash Reddy. Ravi Shankar Jha, Justice Shalinder Kaur, Rishi Kumar Shukla and L R Bishnoi are its members.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant expressed displeasure over allegations being raised against the committee even before it had begun its work. The court said the objections raised by the petitioners were based merely on speculation.

At the same time, the Supreme Court directed the committee to create a dedicated online portal through which witnesses facing security threats can confidentially submit evidence and statements.

The court appointed senior advocate Monica Gusain and advocate C Solomon as amici curiae to assist in the proceedings.

There were also allegations that police had used facial recognition technology at the Jantar Mantar protest site. The Supreme Court said it would consider this and other related issues at a later stage.