New Delhi, Sept. 1 -- The Centre on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking the quashing of 13 first information reports registered in connection with the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP)-led protests at Delhi's Jantar Mantar and other parts of the Capital in July, while proposing to register one fresh FIR against 2,873 persons who were prima facie found to have "serious criminal antecedents". The application, filed by the Delhi Police on behalf of the Union government, stated that the police no longer wished to pursue the 13 cases registered in connection with the protests between July 20 and 25 and would not register any further FIRs for the same incidents. The Centre invoked the Supreme Court's extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, seeking quashing of the 13 FIRs and permission to register one fresh, specific case limited to the 2,873 persons. The application said the new FIR would be in conformity with the court's clarification on "criminal antecedents" in its previous order. The plea is likely to come up before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Tuesday. Solicitor general Tushar Mehta mentioned the application before the CJI and sought an early hearing, saying the Centre was seeking to resolve the issue concerning the FIRs. If approved by the top court, Delhi will be the first of six states and Union territories -- where FIRs were filed against student protesters -- to quash the FIRs. To be sure, states such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal and Maharashtra have announced that they will not take any legal action against people participating in protests. But in no state have FIRs been withdrawn. The move comes days before the proposed September 5 protest march announced by the CJP from India Gate to the Delhi Police headquarters, with withdrawal of FIRs against student protesters being one of the principal demands. The Supreme Court on Monday declined to interfere with the proposed march, leaving the question of law-and-order arrangements to the Centre and Delhi government while expressing confidence that all stakeholders would act peacefully and within the legal framework....