Legal and Police Actions Follow Protests Over Examination Irregularities

The Supreme Court of India has agreed to examine the legality of the Delhi Police's use of facial recognition technology and biometric surveillance against protesters at Jantar Mantar. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana issued notice to the Centre and the Delhi Police commissioner following a public interest litigation filed by CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP AA Rahim. The petition alleges that thousands of protesters, journalists, and citizens were subjected to pervasive surveillance via drones, smart glasses, and mobile command vehicles, and that the collected data is being held by private companies. The petitioner seeks a declaration that such surveillance is unconstitutional and requests the deletion of biometric data from police databases.

In a separate development, the Jharkhand Police registered a first information report against 300 unidentified persons following a student march to the state Assembly on August 10. The protesters are demonstrating against alleged irregularities in competitive examinations conducted for state government jobs. While the Jharkhand government agreed to cancel three examinations, it has refused to cancel the Combined Graduate Level examination, citing monitoring by the Supreme Court and the Jharkhand High Court. Police in Jharkhand stated that the FIR was filed for disrupting the peaceful march, damaging government property, and attacking police personnel. Reports indicate that police used lathi-charges and tear gas to stop protesters from breaching barricades.