Delhi Police reject claims of 'excessive force' at Jantar Mantar student protest

On July 20, students from Jantar Mantar protested en route to Parliament, only to face allegations of excessive force from the Delhi Police. However, the police have now submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court, refuting these claims and stating they employed "maximum restraint" and only the "minimum required force" to control the protesters.

The police maintain they were under no prior authorization for the march, thus rendering it illegal and an unlawful act by an "unlawful assembly" when they attempted to move towards Parliament. The situation escalated when protesters became violent and broke through barricades. The police also rejected allegations of using lathis with nails, instead stating the video evidence was of a stick carrying a national flag, possibly held by a demonstrator.

No medical evidence supported accusations of injuries from these lathis. The police maintain their facial recognition technology does not automatically create profiles of demonstrators without criminal backgrounds, only alerting personnel to individuals with prior criminal records, who are then verified by on-site personnel. The affidavit notes that between July 20 and 26, the system identified 2,873 individuals whose facial matches corresponded with criminal records, 92 of whom had more than 10 criminal cases and 47 were declared history-sheeters, with alleged offenses ranging from murder and rape to violations of the POCSO and NDPS Acts.

The police acknowledged the deployment of over 4,600 women police personnel during the six days, describing it as a measure to protect the security and dignity of women protesters. Furthermore, the police clarified that any investigation into the demonstrations would only involve these 2,873 individuals and not those not flagged by the system.

The Supreme Court is currently hearing petitions alleging excessive police action against students who participated in protests over NEET examination paper leaks.