India, July 28 -- The Central government on Monday told the Delhi High Court that the PIL alleging intrusive surveillance of peaceful protesters at the CJP-led protest against the NEET paper leak at Jantar Mantar was infructuous. A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia asked the petitioner to "let things cool down further" and raise the issue in a subsequent petition that is "general" in nature, and not confined to a specific protest. The PIL was filed by former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) president Aishe Ghosh, Ghosh's senior counsel, however, said, the prayers in the PIL were "still alive", as it concerned surveillance of protesters in the absence of a legal framework.
"You better file a petition where we can examine the provisions. This petition, as we understood, was confined to a particular protest. We are permitting you to file a petition which is general in nature. This insistence on your part (to press the present PIL)...Things have cooled down. Let them cool down further," the bench observed. "Why are you pressing it now? In a subsequent petition, you can make a prayer for guidelines," it asked. The petitioner's senior counsel submitted that certain prayers in the PIL were still relevant, such as a direction to the authorities to permanently destroy all personal data collected through the surveillance, especially since the Centre has assured that no action would be taken against the protesters.
The court said it will hear the matter on Tuesday. Earlier, the petitioner's senior counsel asserted that the right to privacy is not surrendered in public spaces, raised concerns over the presence of police personnel in civil dress for video-recording and the alleged use of facial recognition technology by the police to identify protesters. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that video-recording of the protest against NEET paper leak was in "legitimate state interest" and any objection to it was ironic. Mehta said even influencers and other people from social media were making videos and taking interviews at the site, and the CJP itself has asked the protesters to "videograph everything".
The PIL, filed through lawyer Subhash Chandran K R, has sought a declaration that "continuous and intrusive mass surveillance" of peaceful protesters is constitutionally impermissible, disproportionate and cannot be justified under the guise of maintaining public order or national security. It has sought a direction to authorities to forthwith suspend the mass photography, videography and surveillance at Jantar Mantar until there is a "proximate, real and imminent threat to public order", justifying such measures. "The petitioner has in her possession photographs depicting the permanent surveillance tower and the continuous photography and videography undertaken by police personnel, which demonstrate the pervasive and intrusive nature of the surveillance being carried out by the respondents," the plea has said. "The surveillance is indiscriminate in nature, extending to every individual present at the protest site irrespective of any suspicion of unlawful conduct and encompassing not merely the public acts of protest but also the ordinary incidents of daily life, including eating, resting, seeking medical assistance and other personal activities," the plea has said. The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) called off their 36-day protests on July 25 after Dharmendra Pradhan tendered his resignation as the
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