‘Don’t have time to watch videos’: CJI Surya Kant declines intervention in Jantar Mantar protest crackdown | India News

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Wednesday declined a request for an urgent hearing of a petition challenging the alleged “police brutality” against students at Jantar Mantar saying, “we do not have time to watch videos.“The matter was mentioned before Chief Justice of India Surya Kant-led bench, also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana. Seeking an urgent listing, the petitioner’s counsel told the court that students had allegedly been subjected to police brutality during Monday’s protest and said the plea contained three prayers.“I have the videos as well regarding police brutality… If it can be listed tomorrow (Thursday)… students are there,” the lawyer submitted.The CJI, however, declined the request saying, “We are not interested in videos, we don’t have time to watch… We don’t want to watch videos.”When the counsel again referred to the video evidence and alleged that students had been beaten up, the CJI responded, “Don’t waste our time. We don’t want to watch any videos,” according to news agency PTI.The petition relates to the police action during theCockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) ‘Sansad Chalo’ march on Monday, the opening day of Parliament’s Monsoon Session.Thousands of students and young protesters had marched towards Parliament demanding the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged irregularities in competitive examinations.The protest turned violent after demonstrators attempted to breach police barricades. Security personnel used lathis and tear gas to disperse the crowd, with both protesters and police reporting injuries.Meanwhile, the CJP’s sit-in at Jantar Mantar entered its second month on Wednesday, with the organisation claiming that more supporters joined the protest overnight.Volunteers at the protest site continued receiving food and other supplies sent by supporters, even as heavy security remained deployed in the area following Monday’s clashes.The agitation began on June 20, with protesters seeking accountability over alleged examination irregularities, reforms in the education system and the resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.Activist Sonam Wangchuk, who joined the protest on June 28, continues his indefinite hunger strike from Medanta Hospital after being shifted there from Safdarjung Hospital following a Delhi high court order.Wangchuk has said he will continue his fast until accountability is fixed in the education system or political leaders assure him that the issue will be taken up in Parliament.These development come months after CJI Surya Kant while hearing a separate case likened some unemployed youngsters to “cockroaches”, saying they end up becoming media persons, social media users and RTI activists.“There are youngsters like cockroaches, who don’t get any employment and don’t have any place in the profession. Some of them become media, some of them become social media, some of them become RTI activists, some of them become other activists, and they start attacking everyone,” he had said.The remarks were made in an unrelated case in which a lawyer had challenged the Delhi high court’s process for designating senior advocates. The CJI later clarified that his remarks aimed at people allegedly entering the legal profession with “fake and bogus degrees.”