Govind Tekale
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India’s Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the formation of a high-powered enquiry committee to examine the use of force against students who took part in protests over an alleged entrance-exam paper leak.
The committee will be headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice R. Subhash Reddy. Its other members are retired Punjab and Haryana High Court chief justice Ravi Shankar Jha, former Delhi High Court judge Shalinder Kaur, ex-CBI director Rishi Kumar Shukla, and retired Meghalaya director general of police L.R. Bishnoi.
The order came in response to petitions alleging excessive police force against students demonstrating against the alleged NEET-UG paper leak. NEET-UG is the national undergraduate medical entrance exam; claims that its question paper was leaked have triggered protests across the country and raised wider questions about exam integrity. The move follows an earlier Supreme Court order quashing 2,700 FIRs filed over the same protests.
The committee’s task is fact-finding. It will look into allegations that police and other agencies used excessive force and violence against protestors. It is not a criminal court and cannot itself prosecute, but its findings can inform later action.
