Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has strongly refuted recent media reports claiming he refused to list an urgent petition concerning police action against student protesters. Speaking in open court on July 24, CJI Surya Kant labeled the coverage as "irresponsible and reckless," asserting that no formal writ petition had been filed in the Supreme Court regarding the matter.
Clarifying Court Proceedings
The Chief Justice emphasized that the court had only received a letter representation, not a formally instituted writ petition. "Till morning 10 am, not a single page has been filed. It was one representation... sent by that Mishra or someone. How can I treat the representation as a writ petition? And people start recklessly reporting this," CJI Surya Kant stated.
This clarification followed an incident two days prior, when Advocate Narendra Mishra orally mentioned a letter representation before a bench headed by the CJI. Mishra sought an urgent hearing regarding alleged police brutality against students during a July 20 protest march and offered to present video evidence.
The CJI declined to review the footage at the mentioning stage, telling the counsel, "We are not interested in videos; we don't have time to watch." When the advocate pressed further about the alleged beating of students, the CJI reiterated, "Don't waste our time. We don't want to watch any videos."
Background of Student Protests
The underlying controversy stems from a 'Sansad Chalo' rally organized by student protesters on July 20. Demonstrators, who were marching towards Parliament, reportedly encountered lathis (batons) and tear gas from security forces after attempting to clear barricades.
The protesters have been demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged irregularities in competitive examinations, including the NEET paper leak.
CJI Surya Kant concluded by setting the record straight, underscoring that an oral mentioning based on an informal representation cannot be equated to the refusal of a properly filed writ petition.