NEW DELHI: The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Thursday welcomed the Delhi government’s decision to halt further legal action in FIRs registered during its 36-day agitation, but insisted the cases should be formally withdrawn instead of merely being treated as closed.Warning against any dilution of the July 25 Jantar Mantar agreement, the outfit said failure to honour the government’s assurances in “letter and spirit” could force students back onto the streets.CJP chief spokesperson Saurav Das, speaking to PTI Videos, said the wording of the Delhi government’s notification did not reflect the assurances given to protesters.“The Delhi government has released a notification which says that all the FIRs will not be pursued further and they may be treated as closed. We are not very happy with the term. The term that they should have used is that the FIRs will be withdrawn,” Das said.Das argued that the Supreme Court’s interim order did not prevent the government from withdrawing the FIRs.“The government is saying that the Supreme Court has mandated that the FIRs proceed. But that’s a misreading and a misleading of the situation. Nowhere in the Supreme Court order has the Supreme Court said that the FIRs cannot be withdrawn. Those powers exist with the government,” he said.Urging the Centre to honour the assurances made on July 25, Das said the government should not invoke the Supreme Court’s order to act against protesters.“The government should not be using the Supreme Court order as a weapon to go against protesters. What was guaranteed before the entire nation on July 25, the Jantar Mantar agreement, the government should come good on its promises and honour its words,” Das said.“If it does not honour its words in letter and spirit, then the young generation of this country will never ever forgive them and will be forced to come back on the streets,” Das told PTI.Calling the notification a “positive development”, Das said the commitments made to protesters must be implemented in full.“I hope that all the points that we had shared will be in that draft because time is running out. The younger generation is running out of patience. The words that have been promised, the commitments that have been made, have to be honoured,” he said.Referring to the Supreme Court’s interim order, he added, “We objected to the Supreme Court order which put these riders. This is not what was agreed upon between the protesters and the state. The Supreme Court order also says that FIRs can proceed with the investigation. We objected to that as well, and we continue to object”.Questioning the legal position arising from the order, Das said, “If the Supreme Court is the final authority, then the negotiations should have happened with the Supreme Court, not with the Government of India. Do the Government of India’s words hold no meaning?”On criminal cases registered over allegedly objectionable remarks by protesters, Das said the use of criminal law was unwarranted.“If there is any language that was used which is derogatory in nature, then the person concerned is free to pursue civil defamation and criminal defamation. However, the use of criminal machinery to go against protesters is highly condemnable, and no one should be punished for any objectionable language per se,” he said.While urging young people to be careful in their choice of words, he added, “Criminal machinery being used is a big no-no. It is completely unacceptable.”Das also appealed to the police “to maintain calm and not misuse powers for any political ends”.Reiterating the outfit’s criticism of the alleged use of pellet guns against protesters, he said such measures were neither moral nor constitutional.“These protesters are not terrorists. They are the children of this country. They are citizens of this nation. They are the future of this country. You cannot by any means be using pellet guns or any such projectile weapons against protesters,” he said.“It is about the constitutionality of using pellet guns. I don’t think it is acceptable to any sane person in this nation… It is unacceptable,” Das added.According to a Delhi government order issued on Thursday, Delhi Police will not take any adverse legal action against individuals who participated in the CJP-led protest in the national capital.However, those with a criminal background will continue to face legal action.The home department also said that where arrests or detentions had already been made, the review process and release of those eligible would be undertaken expeditiously.Delhi Police had registered 13 FIRs in connection with violence during the CJP’s ‘Chalo Sansad’ march on July 20. Police also identified more than 2,800 participants with a criminal background who took part in the protest.(With PTI inputs)
