Supreme Court judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan on Friday expressed dismay over police personnel allegedly assaulting students and other protesters at Jantar Mantar, describing such conduct as “very distressing” and a matter of grave concern.
Speaking at the launch of Policing the Republic, a book written by former secretary (security) Yashovardhan Azad, Justice Bhuyan said it was disturbing to see young Indian Police Service officers personally assaulting protesters and demonstrators. The event was held at Viceroy Hall in New Delhi and was also attended by former Union minister P Chidambaram and former Maharashtra DGP D Sivanandhan.
Police detachment disappearing
Justice Bhuyan said the professional detachment traditionally expected of police officers appeared to be eroding. “All of us are dismayed when we see young officers of the Indian Police Service personally going and assaulting protesters and demonstrators. This is something very, very distressing to observe,” he said.
“The detachment expected of police officers somehow seems to be disappearing, and this is indeed a matter of grave concern,” the judge added. His remarks come amid scrutiny of police action against students and demonstrators during protests at Jantar Mantar in July.
Right to dissent
Justice Bhuyan’s comments follow a series of recent observations by him on dissent, student rights and the exercise of state power. Speaking at the National Law University Delhi convocation on August 30, he had said students should not be threatened with punitive action merely because they held a different opinion or asked questions.
He had stressed that the right to question was an important expression of citizenship and liberty, and warned against disagreement or dissent being treated as something that needed to be silenced or punished. A constitutional democracy, he said, did not require uniformity of thought and should be capable of accommodating opinions that were difficult, unpopular or inconvenient.
The latest remarks come against the backdrop of allegations of excessive force during student protests at Jantar Mantar in July, which have also reached the Supreme Court through legal proceedings seeking action against police and security personnel.