Anti-CAA protests: JMI plea for probe in 'police brutality' inside campus dismissed

New delhi: Noting that there was an absence of sanction for prosecution under section 197 CrPC, a Delhi Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition filed by Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) seeking registration of an FIR in December 15, 2019 violence on the campus. Section 197 of CrPC deals with prosecution of judges and public servants.

In its plea before the court of Metropolitan Magistrate (MM) Rajat Goyal, the university had alleged that on December 15, when a protest had been called by civil society members against the Citizenship Amendment Act, police officials allegedly broke into the university campus without any sanction and allegedly used "excessive and arbitrary force" and thrashed several security guards and students of the university.

"The police officials caused destruction of university property and fired tear gas shells and conducted lathi charge. They also hurt religious sentiments of locals of the area by entering into the university's mosque," the petition claimed.

In his order, MM Goyal said : "...it is an undisputed fact that all the respondents were acting in order to control the law and order situation which had emerged in relation to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019. It is also an undisputed fact that many students of applicant university were also protesting against the same and participating in what has been popularly referred to as 'Anti-CAA protests'".

The court further said some of the protests had become violent and that police, including the respondents in the case, were acting to control the said protests at the relevant point of time, in order to prevent violence and prevent the law and order situation from further deteriorating.

"Though it could be argued that while so acting, the police/respondents had allegedly exceeded their jurisdiction and used more force than necessary in some instances, it cannot be said, by any stretch of imagination, that the said acts allegedly committed by the respondents were wholly unconnected to their official duty," the court stated.

While dismissing the petition, the court further said that "it has no hesitation in holding that acts allegedly committed by the respondents fall within the purview of section 197 CrPC being acts committed in discharge of official duties" and that prosecution sanction under the said section was required to proceed in the case.