CJI, Whose Comment on Cockroaches Led to a Movement, Says Court Doesn't Have Time for Videos of Police Excess
New Delhi: Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, whose reference to a section of youth as 'cockroaches' sparked a movement that is now at the parliament's doorstep, said today (July 22) that he was not interested in watching videos of police brutality on protesters on July 20, urging a petitioner not to waste the court's time.
The Supreme Court refused to allow urgent listing of the petition that focused on the Delhi Police's excessive use of force on a largely young protesting crowd on the day when a march had been scheduled to the parliament. The march which saw close to 75,000 people followed almost monthlong protests under the aegis of the Cockroach Janata Party which took its name and inspiration from CJI Surya Kant's comment in May saying, "There are youngsters like cockroaches, who don’t get any employment and don’t have any place in profession." Left students' organisations along with educator Sonam Wangchuk carried out a hunger strike demanding the resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Wangchuk's fast is ongoing and is on its 25th day.
July 20 saw massive lathicharge by the security forces, with allegations ranging from the use of pellet guns and nail-studded batons – both of which police have denied. Several were hurt in the police action, which involved wanton assaults caught on camera along with tear gassing.
On July 22, while many continue to undergo treatment, the CJI told the lawyer who mentioned the petition, "Don't waste our time, and don't waste your time."
LiveLaw reports that when the lawyer said that the students are raising important issues such as the proper conduct of the NEET exam, and reforms in the National Testing Agency, the CJI cut the lawyer short and said, "Thank you very much."
When the lawyer said that there were videos showing police using excessive force, the CJI said the following words: "We are not interested in videos; we don't have time to watch."
A day ago, when a petitioner requested that the Delhi high court list a plea alleging excessive use of force by police against protesters, Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya said, "Don't drag the court into all this."
It is unusual for a CJI to say that the court does not have the time to watch videos of citizens being subjected to excessive police force, especially in a judicial system like India's where cases often take very long to arrive at judgements. Earlier this month, a Supreme Court bench led by the CJI himself, for instance, heard a case emerging from a video of comedian Samay Raina and others making jokes in the show India’s Got Latent which were offensive to disabled people.
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