CHHATRAPATI SAMBHAJINAGAR: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Tuesday welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision to quash FIRs against students who took part in protests over the NEET paper leak, calling the order “absolute justice” and saying the ruling had delivered on the demands raised during the agitation.Speaking to reporters here, Dipke thanked the Supreme Court and said the decision had brought relief to students who protested at Jantar Mantar as well as families of those who died by suicide over the alleged paper leak.The Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed all FIRs registered against students who participated in the CJP-led protests between July 20 and 25 across the country, news agency PTI reported.A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant also directed the Centre to provide compensation within three months to the families of students who died by suicide over the NEET paper leak.“Our demands have been met. This is absolute justice. It took us a month (for this),” he said.
CJP founder thanks SC, apologises to bereaved families
Dipke said the outcome had been made possible by people’s power and said he had been meeting several delegations over the issue.“I apologise to the families that we could not save your kids. We are very sorry that you lost your kids,” the CJP convener said, referring to students who died by suicide.He blamed the government for the deaths and alleged that they were a result of the system’s failure.The government, he said, had now accepted the demand for compensation to the families of students who died by suicide.“The government has accepted the demands but it has to take the responsibility that not a single student dies due to paper leak,” he said.Dipke said the government must also ensure that no student loses their life because of shortcomings in the system.“We cannot afford this anymore,” he said.
NEET protests saw clashes in Delhi
The CJP-led march in Delhi on July 20 witnessed clashes between protesters and security personnel, who used lathis and teargas shells to disperse demonstrators attempting to move towards Parliament.The student-led agitation, which spread to several cities, centred on demands including the resignation of then Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.The protests had begun at Jantar Mantar on June 20. The agitation was called off on July 25 after Pradhan resigned and the government accepted the CJP’s other demands.(With agency inputs)