Parliamentary panel on Home Affairs witnesses uproar as opposition members seek to raise pellet gun issue, lathicharge during NEET-UG protest

The meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs witnessed an uproar on Tuesday, with opposition members demanding a discussion "on the use of pellet guns and the lathicharge" during the 'Sansad Chalo' march by NEET-UG protestors on July 20.

The meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs witnessed an uproar on Tuesday, with opposition members demanding a discussion "on the use of pellet guns and the lathicharge" during the 'Sansad Chalo' march by NEET-UG protestors on July 20. The sources said that Chairman of the panel Radha Mohan Dad Agrawal denied permission for any such discussion and is learnt to have said that the Supreme Court has formed a high-level committee which will probe allegations of police excesses as well as violence by protesters during the demonstrations.

The scheduled agenda of the meeting was 'Crime Against Children' and the committee heard views of officials of four ministries. Sources said Congress MP Ajay Maken had submitted a letter ahead of the meeting, stating that the issues of pellet gun use and the lathicharge on students during the Jantar Mantar protest be taken up for discussion.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is also learnt to have raised the issue. The sources said a few opposition MPs claimed that some students injured in the lathicharge were minors and that the matter fell within the broader ambit of 'Crime Against Children'.

Sources said that there was a heated argument between a BJP and Congress member. They said the Chairman asked the members to stick to the listed agenda. The Standing Committee heard the views of officials of Ministries of Labour and Employment, School Education and Literacy, Social Justice and Empowerment and Health and Family Welfare.

The Supreme Court earlier this month constituted a five-member High-Powered Expert Committee (HPEC), headed by retired apex court Justice R Subhash Reddy, to conduct a fact-finding exercise into allegations of police excesses as well as violence by protesters during the recent Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led demonstrations. The committee comprises former Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Ravi Shankar Jha, former Delhi High Court Justice Shalinder Kaur, former CBI Director Rishi Kumar Shukla and former Meghalaya DGP LR Bishnoi. A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said the panel would examine the various grievances raised by both protesters and police authorities in connection with the demonstrations.

The bench said the HPEC should give priority to allegations of excessive use of force by police, violence by protesters and allegations of harassment and molestation of women protesters.It also permitted the panel to examine whether interim compensation should be granted to persons injured during the protests, including both police personnel and protesters. The apex court made clear that the committee's mandate would not be limited to a one-time inquiry and directed the HPEC to periodically submit interim findings so that the Court could assess the situation and issue further directions wherever necessary.

The bench also directed that CCTV recordings of the protests and body-camera footage from police and security personnel, which had earlier been ordered to be preserved, be handed over to the committee for examination. At the same time, the top court clarified that the formation of the HPEC would not prevent police or other security authorities from initiating departmental or disciplinary proceedings against officers found to have violated applicable rules. (ANI)