Chaos At House Panel Meet After Priyanka Gandhi Raises July 20 Police Action

The demand that has fuelled multiple rounds of bitterness between the Opposition and the central government over the past five weeks ended up becoming a flashpoint at a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs on Tuesday. The July 20 police crackdown on a youth march to Parliament must be discussed, insisted Congress members Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Ajay Maken; but the chairman, BJP's Radha Mohan Das Agrawal, declined, sources told NDTV.

The chairman's contention was two-pronged: that the Supreme Court had already constituted a committee to examine the matter, and that the meeting should confine itself to the set agenda. That included hearing the views of four ministries (Labour, School Education, Social Justice, and Health) on the subject of 'Crime Against Children'.

Congress General Secretary and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, along with Rajya Sabha member Ajay Maken, raised the issue of the Jantar Mantar protest and the Sansad March of July 20. The Opposition MPs argued that minors were among those injured in the lathi charge and that the matter therefore fell within the 31-member committee's remit.

A BJP MP immediately opposed this, leading to a heated exchange between the BJP MP and Congress MP Jai Parkash over the issue, it is learnt. That's when Agrawal intervened and said the matter was currently sub judice in the Supreme Court and, therefore, could not be discussed, sources further revealed.

The Supreme Court on August 20 set up a five-member High-Powered Expert Committee headed by former SC judge R Subhash Reddy to examine allegations of excessive use of force by police and security personnel against protesters at Jantar Mantar and elsewhere. A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant named former Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Ravi Shankar Jha, former Delhi HC judge Justice Shalinder Kaur, former CBI director Rishi Kumar Shukla and retired Meghalaya DGP LR Bishnoi to the panel.

The Congress, however, has pushed for FIRs and a government response nonetheless.

Tuesday's argument at the panel meeting comes less than a week after Congress MP and Leader of Opposition (Lok Sabha) Rahul Gandhi staged a sit-in protest at the Sansad Marg (Parliament Street) police station on August 21, seeking an FIR over injuries to student protester Sahil Lochab allegedly by a pellet gun during the Cockroach Janata Party-led march. After seven hours, the police relented and registered an FIR.

Earlier, during the Monsoon Session of Parliament that concluded on August 13, parties from the Congress-led INDIA bloc caused a massive uproar throughout. They demanded a parliamentary discussion and a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah on the police action against the protesting students.

Thousands of protesters led by the CJP marched towards Parliament on July 20, the opening day of the Monsoon Session, demanding the resignation of the then Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak and other issues. Police used tear gas and batons to disperse the march. Pradhan eventually resigned as the protest persisted.