The Supreme Court on Monday verbally observed that the right to protest peacefully is guaranteed by the Constitution and that excessive use of force by the police on agitators cannot be justified, reported Bar and Bench.

“Just because there is an agitation does not mean there should be lathi-charge,” said Chief Justice Surya Kant. “Self-evolved discipline is needed, which is essential to the democratic process.”

The court was hearing a petition alleging that the police used excessive force against protesters who were marching to Parliament on July 20 as part of a demonstration called by the Cockroach Janta Party political campaign.

The petitioners also pointed out instances of the police in Bihar using excessive force against protesters who were demonstrating in solidarity with the youth agitation in Delhi.

On Saturday, three protesters were injured after the police opened fire on demonstrators in Bihar’s Siwan district.

Following this, a batch of petitions was filed in the Supreme Court, seeking nationwide guidelines to regulate police action during protests, including a ban on the deployment of plainclothes personnel for crowd-control duties, reported Live Law.

The petitioners also sought guidelines to regulate the use of prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. The provision grants the authorities the power to issue orders in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger.

Further, the petitioners urged the court to order an independent investigation into the police action during the July 20 protest in Delhi.

On Monday, a lawyer told the court that police personnel had also been injured in the demonstrations.

“Injury to individual, be it to policemen or [students], is of equal concern,” the bench was quoted as saying by Live Law. “We may call upon state to concern why adequate equipment not given to police to handle such...they should have helmets.”

The bench listed the petitions to be heard on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court refused to urgently hear a petition alleging that the police used excessive force against protesters in Delhi. “Don’t waste our time and don’t waste your time,” Kant had said then.

The agitation in Delhi started on June 6, when the Cockroach Janta Party began a protest at Jantar Mantar to demand the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, the Union education minister at the time, over the alleged irregularities in the conduct of competitive exams.

On July 20, thousands joined the protest two days after the police forcibly took activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike for three weeks, to hospital. Their march to Parliament was met with a crackdown by the police. Dozens were injured as the police used lathis, fired tear gas shells and pellet guns against the demonstrators.

The police action turbocharged the agitation, which spread to other parts of the country and forced Pradhan to resign on Saturday.

Edited by Nachiket Deuskar.

Follow Scroll’s coverage of the youth protests here.