New Delhi, Aug 5 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that law enforcement agencies should exercise restraint while dealing with protests involving youngsters, observing that counselling, dialogue, and listening were more effective than adopting an aggressive approach, as it agreed to examine a plea seeking action against the organisers of the July 20 'Sansad Chalo' march.
A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana tagged the plea, filed by a retired Indian Air Force officer, with a batch of pending petitions arising out of the student protests over the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak.
The petition has sought directions to fix accountability on the organisers of the July 20 march and identify persons who allegedly used abusive or derogatory language against police and security personnel during the protests.
It has also sought a direction requiring such persons to perform seven days of supervised community service, besides raising objections to the withdrawal of criminal cases arising from the protests on the basis of political settlements.
During the hearing, counsel appearing for the petitioner submitted that while accountability had been sought from the government and the police over the July 20 incident, no action had been taken against the organisers even after more than two weeks.
Counsel argued that the organisers were continuing to make provocative public statements and contended that they should be held responsible for the violence that allegedly occurred during the march towards Parliament despite the absence of permission. He further submitted that if governments "bend backwards" to accommodate protesters in the national capital, it could set an undesirable precedent for similar demonstrations elsewhere in the country.
Responding to the submissions, CJI Surya Kant stressed that even if some "misguided elements" indulge in acts such as stone-pelting, the response of the state machinery should be measured.
"If some misguided elements indulge in stone-pelting, even then the youngsters are required to be pacified and counselled. They need advice and counselling. Any aggressive approach from the side of the mighty State may socially aggravate the situation and precipitate further violence. That needs to be avoided," he observed.
As the petitioner's counsel also raised concerns over security implications of the march towards Parliament, arguing that authorities could not have known whether any person in the crowd was carrying weapons, CJI Surya Kant reiterated that the emphasis should be on ensuring peaceful protests while preventing situations from escalating.
"What is important is to promote a peaceful march. If some incident takes place, the police also need to exercise a great deal of restraint to ensure that the situation does not go out of hand. Wherever such incidents take place, we need to deal with them very carefully," he observed.
Stressing the need for engagement with agitating students, the CJI added: "We need to tread carefully so that these youngsters do not indulge in violence. The better course is to counsel them and pacify them. The most powerful tool is listening. Listen to them and understand why they are shouting."
CJI Surya Kant further said that operational decisions on handling such situations should be left to the law enforcement agencies. "But let us leave it to the wisdom of the law-enforcement agencies. They know better than you, and they know better than us, how to deal with this kind of situation," he maintained.
Taking note that similar issues relating to the July 20 protests are already pending before it, the apex court ordered that the latest plea be tagged with the batch of connected matters for hearing.
The PIL also seeks a declaration that the Union and state governments cannot grant blanket pardons or withdraw prosecutions arising out of riot-related incidents solely on the basis of political agreements, and has sought an interim direction restraining governments from withdrawing such prosecutions pending adjudication of the matter.
Source: IANS
About Gopi
Gopi Adusumilli is a Programmer. He is the editor of SocialNews.XYZ and President of AGK Fire Inc.
He enjoys designing websites, developing mobile applications and publishing news articles on current events from various authenticated news sources.
When it comes to writing he likes to write about current world politics and Indian Movies. His future plans include developing SocialNews.XYZ into a News website that has no bias or judgment towards any.
He can be reached at gopi@socialnews.xyz