New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday said it is duty bound to protect the constitutional guarantees for right to peaceful protest but said it will examine PILs alleging both excesses by police on student protesters and violent attacks on policemen and journalists before laying down pan-India guidelines for prevention of such incidents in future.“Right to protest cannot be denied so long as it remains peaceful. Merely because there is an agitation, there cannot be lathicharge. And just because there is an agitation, the protesters cannot resort to violence,” said the CJI while hearing the matter with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana.Posting for Tuesday hearing on cross petitions – a bunch alleging police brutality on students protesting NEET paper leak across India, one by family members of policemen who were attacked while controlling riotous protesters, and another alleging attack and physical heckling of media personnel covering the agitation, SC said, “Injuries to individuals, be it protesters or policemen, are of equal concern.”The petitions, which streamed in from various quarters to the SC and one alleging use of pellet guns by Delhi Police while the other accusing use of AK-47 in Bihar’s Siwan, made the CJI-led bench remark, “Right to protest lawfully and peacefully enjoys absolute guarantee under our constitutional scheme.”Agreeing with senior advocate Vikas Singh for pan-India standard operating protocol, SC said, “There must be a protocol to provide adequate space for protests. There must not be unwarranted restrictions. If some anti-social elements in the protest indulge in violence, that aspect will have to be taken care of. But that must not impinge the right to protest peacefully.”Appearing for the family of injured policemen, senior advocate Sridhar Potaraju drew the court’s attention to the number of policemen who were injured while controlling riotous protesters. “I represent families of policemen who were beaten brutally by protesters,” he said.“The court must also address the rights of the policemen, who are in a disciplined force. Look into the way they were brutally assaulted by the protesters. They were kicked and literally lynched. Unfortunately, no one stands up for them,” he said.Justice Bagchi said: “The SOP must be there for both issues – how to deal with peaceful protests and the training of policemen equipped with adequate anti-riot gear to deal with violent or riotous protesters. We will call upon the state to explain why adequate safety gears were not given to police who deal with this sort of agitation.”Solicitor general Tushar Mehta said the Union govt will provide unbiased assistance to the court to peruse materials on record and assured the court that govt will not take an adversarial approach in this case for framing pan-India guidelines.CJI Kant said, “We request you all not to take an adversarial approach on the issues. Excesses committed will be looked into independently. Those who resorted to use of excessive force or indulged in violence will be found out. The endeavour will be to formulate what should be the preventive mechanism for the future in the form of mandatory guidelines. It will be for pan-India and not for Delhi alone. It has happened in many places so requires uniformity in approach.“The bench said, “It should not be that merely because there is an agitation, police should resort to lathicharge. It is also equally true that merely because there is agitation, there should be violence. These things need to be addressed with a balanced approach. Self-restraint is one of the hallmarks of democratic process.”
