NEW DELHI: The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Tuesday said the Supreme Court’s interim order allowing governments to continue investigations into already registered FIRs “stands in direct contradiction” to the Centre’s assurances on July 25 that cases against protesters would be withdrawn and no student would be targeted.
The party said it was yet to receive the written agreement promised by the Centre, even as the deadline for implementing the July 25 assurances expired on Tuesday.
“If harassment of students at the hands of police continues, CJP will respond with a massive peaceful protest soon. The government must stop targeting and witch-hunting students,” CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke posted on X.
CJP spokesperson Saurav Das said the Supreme Court’s interim order had raised concerns that the Centre and BJP-ruled states could use it to continue legal action against protesters.
“The order stands in direct contradiction to the government’s assurance that FIRs would be withdrawn and no protester would be directly or indirectly targeted for participating in the peaceful movement,” Das wrote on X.
He said the CJP had suspended its nationwide agitation “on the strength of that solemn assurance, and in complete good faith”, but now feared that governments could “use and weaponise” the court’s order to continue investigations and subject protesters to prolonged harassment.
The party also alleged that the Centre’s legal representatives did not oppose the Supreme Court’s interim order despite being aware that an agreement on the issue had already been reached during talks held on July 25.
“The government must not invoke the Court’s order as a justification for reneging on the commitment it made on July 25,” Das said, urging the Centre to place the terms of its assurances before the Supreme Court.
The statement comes a day after the CJP accused the Centre of failing to honour commitments made during the July 25 discussions, alleging that protesters in several states continued to face police action.
According to Das, government representatives met CJP leaders early Tuesday morning and shared copies of notifications issued by the Bihar and Assam governments. They also promised that similar notifications would be issued by the Union government and other BJP/NDA-ruled states, assuring that no action would be taken against peaceful protesters.
However, the party maintained that the broader written agreement promised by the Centre had still not been delivered.
CJP spokesperson Ratna Singh said the organisation was also awaiting updates on the withdrawal of FIRs in West Bengal, Delhi and Maharashtra.
She added that officials had informed the party that no fresh FIRs had been registered and no new detentions had taken place in Delhi. Singh said she had also raised concerns about the alleged targeting of members of a particular community who had participated in the protests and was assured that clear instructions would be issued to prevent such incidents.
“As of now, there are no fresh FIRs in Delhi,” she wrote on X, adding that she had also taken up with Goa authorities the case of a protest organiser who was allegedly facing harassment.
