NEET-UG protests case: Petitioners seek re-constitution of high-powered enquiry committee

Petitioners urgently sought before Chief Justice of India Surya Kant a re-constitution of the “under-equipped” high-powered enquiry committee (HPEC) chaired by former apex court Judge R. Subhash Reddy constituted to probe all issues concerning the police crackdown on students protesting NEET-UG paper leaks on July 20.An application filed by the petitioners clarified that they were not commenting on the personal integrity of any members of the HPEC, but they said the “enquiry is required to test the role of persons occupying the highest levels of the Union Executive, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Delhi Police and the Rapid Action Force”.Editorial | Force of law: On the Delhi police“This investigation would require enquiry into the role played by Union Home Minister, Mr. Amit Shah; officials within the Ministry of Home Affairs; Commissioner of Police Delhi, Mr. Anurag Kumar; Special Commissioner(s) of Police and Joint Commissioner(s) of Police, Delhi Police; Inspector General, Rapid Action Force, Seema Dhundia; other high-ranking officials from Rapid Action Force. This investigation would require enquiry into the specific role played by each of the individuals and officers,” the application, mentioned by senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, advocates Prashant Bhushan and Neha Rathi, contended.The application said the span of the enquiry would cover the specific directions passed by them or on before July 20; directions passed by them to ensure that order is maintained at the protest site; directions passed by them to ensure that use of force was proportional; directions to personnel of Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force not to wear uniform or name tags; disciplinary action taken against personnel deployed for the indiscriminate and excessive use of force, for not wearing uniforms and/or name tags, for using banned arms and equipment, and for outraging modesty of women.“When the allegations require scrutiny of such high-ranking officials, the enquiry must be visibly and decisively insulated from executive and institutional influence and any perceived bias,” the application said.Also Read | Protest venue under a web of cameras and facial recognition systemsChief Justice Surya Kant tried to assuage apprehensions, saying the HPEC would be functioning under the eye of the Supreme Court itself.The application however pointed out that publicly available information about the non-judicial members of the HPEC did not disclose specialised experience in independently investigating allegations of excessive police force or examining the conduct of senior serving executive and police officials.Besides Justice Reddy, the committee includes Justice Ravi Shankar Jha, former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court; Justice Shalinder Kaur, former Judge of the Delhi High Court; Rishi Kumar Shukla, former Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation; and Dr. L.R. Bishnoi, retired Director General of Police, Meghalaya.The petitioners said information available in the public domain show a “long association between members and the executive authorities of the Union of India, including the Union Home Minister, highlighting that there is a reasonable apprehension of institutional deference which may prejudice the independent and impartial probe”.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, for the government, said the fears expressed by the petitioners were completely unwarranted and without basis. He strongly objected to naming individuals, and said the petitioners were trying to impose their will on the court. Mr. Sankaranarayanan said the petitioners were not doing anything of the sort, and was merely seeking an early listing of the application.The petitioners argued that there was a “real risk that the enquiry may remain confined to acts of field-level personnel and fail to examine the decisions and omissions of senior authorities”.The application said the HPEC, constituted in an apex court order on August 18, did not include any of the suggestions made by the petitioners, including that it should be headed by a former Chief Justice of India, have a retired woman DGP and a former Attorney General in its ranks.The petitioners said the HPEC did not have officers with investigative skills or individuals with an established track record of civil liberties and public interest. They said their concerns were limited to the structure of the HPEC, which in its current form did not possess the “demonstrable independence and proficiency necessary for the enquiry to be carried out.“To ensure that the probe is holistic, it is necessary that the HPEC must possess, collectively, demonstrated expertise in constitutional and civil rights, criminal investigation, forensic appreciation, crowd-control and use-of-force protocols, and enquiry into the role of senior functionaries without fear or favour,” the application said.