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 But in no state have FIRs been withdrawn.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. In its application, the Delhi Police said that pursuant to a decision taken by the central government on July 25, it "no longer wishes to pursue" the 13 FIRs registered in connection with the CJP protests between July 20 and 25. The cases include allegations of rioting, attempt to murder, damage to public property, assault on police personnel and other offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. The police, however, said that 2,873 individuals with "serious criminal antecedents", according to the National Crime Records Bureau database, were prima facie reported to have been present at the protest site. "The investigation is required to ascertain their role, if any, in the commission of offences relating to bodily harm or destruction of property at the said protests," said the application. It, therefore, sought the court's permission to register a single fresh FIR against these 2,873 persons. The proposed investigation would be confined to determining their individual roles in offences relating to bodily harm or destruction of property during the protests. The Delhi Police also made it clear that no fresh FIR will be filed thereafter in relation to the incidents covered by the application. It further said that if any other FIR relating to the same incidents, but not included in the list of 13 cases, was subsequently found or brought to the authorities' attention, the state would not oppose the affected party seeking similar relief from the Supreme Court. The Centre urged the Supreme Court to exercise its Article 142 powers "in the larger public interest and in the peculiar facts of this case" to quash the 13 FIRs and permit registration of the one fresh case. It also requested the court to clarify that any order passed in the matter would be confined to the "peculiar facts" of the case and would not constitute a precedent. The application was filed in proceedings arising from petitions concerning the July 20 protests, during which Delhi Police and the Rapid Action Force used force, including lathi charge, tear gas and pellet guns, to prevent protesters from marching towards Parliament. The Supreme Court has already constituted a five-member high-powered enquiry committee headed by former Supreme Court judge justice R Subhash Reddy to conduct an independent inquiry into competing allegations arising from the protests. The HPEC is examining allegations of excessive and unlawful use of force by the police as well as allegations of violence by protesters, injuries to police personnel and damage to public property. The CJP first garnered millions of followers on social media before launching an indefinite sit-in protest on June 20 demanding the resignation of then education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over repeated question paper leaks - including one earlier this year. After days of tepid crowds, the movement was galvanised by the hunger strike and forcible removal of activist Sonam Wangchuk. On July 20, columns of people -- many of them students, first-time agitators and young professionals -- defied a steady drizzle and police barricading to join street protests. Eventually, the stir was called off on July 25 after Pradhan's resignation. During the meeting with CJP members, Union minister JP Nadda said the CJP representatives came to the meeting with a written draft on cases filed during the July 20 agitation. "After the discussion, the first point was that no action should be taken and no FIRs should be filed. If any FIRs have already been registered, whether by the Delhi Police or in BJP-ruled states, it will be withdrawn," Nadda had said....