Mumbai: The state govt has decided to withdraw cases lodged against students who participated in the recent Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests across Maharashtra. According to the chief minister’s office, CM Devendra Fadnavis has directed additional chief secretary (home) Manisha Mhaiskar to initiate the process.The state govt’s official notification is awaited.The home department will compile details of all such cases from across the state and initiate the necessary process for their withdrawal after issuing a separate order to that effect, said a senior home department officer. However, another officer clarified that govt can withdraw registered police cases only after a chargesheet is filed or after police have submitted closure reports in courts.While calling off its protest on July 25 following Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over the NEET paper leak, CJP had claimed that the Centre had assured it that all FIRs filed against protesters in NDA-governed states would be withdrawn.Thousands of students had participated in CJP-led protests across Maharashtra demanding Pradhan’s resignation. Over seven days of protests in Mumbai, beginning July 18, police lodged 16 FIRs for unlawful assembly (under Section 189(2) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita) and violation of prohibitory orders (under Sections 37(1), 37(3) and 135 of Maharashtra Police Act).Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad said the Centre should order withdrawal of similar cases registered across the country. “These cases are adversely affecting students who have applied for visas for higher education abroad or are seeking employment,” she said.Advocate Kalyani Mangave, who, along with a group of practising advocates, provided legal assistance to students during the protests, said the group got over 1,000 calls from students seeking legal help following police action. “Many students were detained at railway stations before even reaching protest sites, while FIRs were registered without proper verification, putting their futures at risk,” she said. She said police also issued notices to many students who were not named in the FIRs to determine whether they should be added as accused.Among those who received notices was Sanchita Kadam (20), a second-year BCom student from Thane, who said she was detained at a railway station before she could get to a protest venue. “I was questioned about where I was going and later received another notice asking me to appear before police again.”Another student, requesting anonymity, said she and her friends were stopped near Shivaji Park while passing through the area and later found out that an FIR had been filed against them.A Dahisar resident said police officers visited her home after her mother, in her 60s, was detained during the protest. “We received a WhatsApp notice asking us to report to the nearest police station within 14 days,” she said.On the flurry of summonses, Mumbai police clarified on Tuesday that no fresh notice has been issued to individuals named in the FIRs since July 26, maintaining that all notices served were issued prior to that cutoff date.Advocate Vikrant Khare, who is representing many students alongside a panel of Bombay HC lawyers, pointed out that local stations continue with their routine investigative process until formal administrative orders on freezing or withdrawal of cases are officially circulated to all police stations.
