Act against cops who cane charged AMU students: HC
PRAYAGRAJ : The Allahabad high court has asked the authorities to take action against policemen who caned students during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (anti-CAA) protests in Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) on December 15 last year.
The court has also directed the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary, the state director general of police, the director general of Central Reserve Police Force, the vice chancellor and the registrar of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) to adhere to National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) recommendations, including giving compensation to six students who were grievously hurt during the cane charge by the police.
In its report, NHRC had said the students were caned ‘unnecessarily.’
The court directed the officers concerned to comply with the order and file a compliance report by the next hearing on March 25.
The bench comprising Chief Justice Govind Mathur and justice Samit Gopal passed the order on a petition filed by Mohd Aman Khan of Prayagraj, alleging police brutality on students.
The petitioner requested the high court to pass several directives, including setting up of a ‘court monitored committee’ to have a judicial inquiry into acts of violence and arbitrary detention of students by the state police and pare-military forces at AMU from December 12, 2019 to December 15, 2019.
Earlier, on January 8, 2020, the high court had asked NHRC
to conduct an inquiry into the matter. Thereafter, a six-member team conducted a probe and the commission accepted the report. Later, a copy of the report was sent to the high court.
The recommendations made by the commission included giving compensation to six students, who were grievously injured in a cane charge by police, and taking disciplinary action against policemen seen in CCTV footage as ‘unnecessarily’ caning students and damaging motorcycles on AMU campus.
NHRC also recommended that the police force, CRPF and Rapid Action Force (RAF) should be sensitised and special training modules be carried out to inculcate professionalism in handling such situations.
“In pursuance of the directions given by this court on January 8, 2020, an inquiry has already been conducted by a sixmember team of the National Human Rights Commission. The report submitted by the team has also been accepted by the Commission. A copy of the report along with order of proceedings has been sent to this court by the registrar (Law) of the National Human Rights Commission,” the high court said.
The court also said, “The report of the Commission along with order of proceedings be kept in sealed cover in safe custody of the registrar general of this court and the same be placed before the court on 25th March, 2020.”
The court also directed the UP DGP to ensure that the SIT set up vide its order of January 6 shall investigates all the related cases on merit and in a time bound manner.
The court had advised the UP DGP and senior officers to improve and set up a robust intelligence gathering system and to take steps to counter ‘rumour mongering and circulation of distorted and false news’, especially on the social media.
The AMU vice chancellor and registrar were asked to establish a mechanism for better communication with the students’ fraternity so that they were not influenced by outsiders. They were also asked to take measures to rebuild the trust of students so that such incidents did not occur in future.
As per the averment contained in the writ petition, paramilitary forces and the state police, for no ‘just and valid reason’, on December 15, 2019 resorted to a lathi-charge with a massive amount of firing of teargas, rubber bullets and pellets. The forces also entered into Guest House No. 2-3, where the students were hiding, the petition said. The entire incident was recorded on CCTV cameras, the petition added.
The petition also said AMU students had been peacefully protesting against CAA after Parliament passed the new citizenship law.
According to the petitioner, students gathered at Maulana Azad Library and marched up to AMU gate on December 15, 2019.
On reaching the gate, police, who were deployed there, started provoking the students, but they did not respond, the petitioner said.
After sometime, the police started firing teargas shells on the students and also cane charged them, in which around 100 students were injured, the petitioner alleged.
Passing its order, “The chief secretary, government of Uttar Pradesh, director general of police, Government of Uttar Pradesh, director
general, Central Reserve Police Force, vice chancellor, Aligarh Muslim University and the registrar, Aligarh Muslim University are directed to adhere to the recommendations made by the commission at earliest. A report of compliance be presented before this court on next date of listing. Let the writ petition be listed on 25th March, 2020.”