New Delhi, 16 September (H.S.): The Delhi High Court has dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking an inquiry into claims of a lathi-charge allegedly carried out by the Delhi Police during a protest at Jantar Mantar against the NEET paper leak. A Bench headed by Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya said that the petition did not involve any element of public interest.

The petition was filed by Nitin Naresh, who described himself as a media professional. The petitioner submitted that media reports had claimed that a lathi-charge took place, while the Delhi Police had denied the allegation, creating a contradiction that warranted an inquiry.

During the hearing, the Court observed that media reports could not be treated as evidence. The Bench questioned whether there was any contradiction between the official statements issued by the Delhi Police and the Central Armed Police Forces. The Court said it would not entertain petitions of this nature, observing that various kinds of matters were being filed before it and that the present petition did not involve any public interest.

The Supreme Court had on August 20 constituted a five-member high-powered committee to inquire into matters related to protests by the Kakroach Janta Party. A Bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant constituted the committee, headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice R. Subhash Reddy, to examine all aspects connected with the protests.

The committee comprises former judge Justice Ravi Shankar Jha, former judge Justice Shalinder Kaur, former CBI Director Rishi Kumar Shukla and former DGP Dr. L.R. Bishnoi.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar