Supreme Court panel readies online portal for complaints on police action during NEET leak protests

The Supreme Court has issued directions on complaints of alleged police excess and wrongful action during protests against the NEET paper leak, in a development of relevance to the students and candidates who took part in the demonstrations.

An online portal has been built to receive complaints from those affected and is yet to be launched. Students, parents and protesters will be able to report alleged use of force by police, wrongful action and cases registered against them. Official details of when the portal will go live and how complaints will be filed are yet to emerge.

Students held protests in many parts of the country after allegations of irregularities and a paper leak in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), the entrance examination for admission to medical colleges. Candidates and student organisations had demanded a fair inquiry into the irregularities and strict action against the guilty.

The protesting students had also demanded a re-examination and a strict system to prevent such incidents in future. Clashes between students and police were reported from several places. Some student organisations and protesters alleged that police used excessive force against those protesting peacefully, and some complained that cases were wrongly registered against them. These allegations and complaints reached the Supreme Court.

The court has directed that an online mechanism be put in place to record complaints from people affected by police action during the protests. A dedicated digital portal has been prepared for this, to give affected students and protesters a chance to lodge their complaints.

The portal is to take complaints relating to alleged use of force by police and cases registered against protesters. This could help bring the complaints together in one place and organise the process of examining them. The full copy of the court's order and detailed official instructions on running the portal are not among the available information, so the final arrangement and the manner of acting on complaints will become clear only after an official announcement.

The Supreme Court's High-Powered Enquiry Committee (HPEC) has told the court that the online portal is now ready and is yet to be launched. The portal has been built with technical help from the National Informatics Centre (NIC). The complaint mechanism is not only for protesters but also for police personnel who were injured during the protests or who claim to have been victims of violence of any kind. Separate forms have been created for complaints from the two sides.

Once the portal is launched, the public will be informed through notices in major newspapers so that it reaches those affected. The Supreme Court had earlier set up a five-member committee to look into the matter, headed by former Supreme Court judge R. Subhash Reddy. The committee will also examine alleged police violence against protesters, allegations of misbehaviour with women protesters, and matters concerning police personnel injured during the protests.

Students and protesters who allege that they were mistreated or subjected to excessive force during the protests will be able to lodge complaints on the portal. Those who claim wrongful police action or wrongly registered cases against them will also be able to put their case through the same mechanism.

Videos and photographs can be important evidence in complaints about police action. According to the available information, the portal may also allow evidence to be submitted with a complaint. Students or protesters who have videos, photographs or other documents relating to police action will be able to use them as evidence for their complaints.