India, Sept. 1 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday invoked its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to quash FIRs registered across the country against students who participated in protests over the NEET examination controversy.

The order comes after the government had approached the top court seeking the quashing of cases registered against protesters in Delhi and assured that students would not be targeted or harassed in connection with the agitation.

The government had earlier moved the Supreme Court seeking the quashing of 13 FIRs registered in Delhi in connection with the NEET paper leak protests. It had also sought permission to register a fresh FIR against 2,873 people who were present at the protest site to inv...