New Delhi: Delhi high court on Thursday (July 23) accepted for urgent hearing a public interest litigation filed by a top Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha former officebearer seeking a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the youth-led protest over repeated examination failures. The court will hear matter on Friday.Details of the petition, as per a report on Live Law, appear to allege “foreign funding” of the protest and question its democratic credentials, focusing on some of its organisers, especially climate activist Sonam Wangchuk as well as those who have supported the students.“…the so-called protest is not, in substance, a genuine protest by students or for student-related concerns. Rather, it appears to be a part of a larger conspiracy allegedly orchestrated by anti-national and foreign elements with the purported intention of destabilising the country by exploiting financial influence and monetary resources,” the plea states, Bar and Bench reports.Wanghuck has been on hunger strike for 25 days, supporting the call of the students for Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign after the hardship, including several student deaths by suicide, since the NEET (undergraduate) paper was ‘leaked’ in April.Live Law reports that the petition before the high court seeks investigation into the “role of organisers, participants and any alleged external or foreign influence”. It says Wangchuk has received “substantial support and recognition from various foreign organisations”.The allegations are similar to those levelled against Wangchuk last year, when he was arrested under the National Security Act and jailed for several months until the charges were voluntarily and unexpectedly withdrawn by the Union government.The petition names former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and AAP leaders Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Atishi Marlena, Samajwadi Party parliamentarians and leaders including Dimple Yadav, Dharmendra Yadav and Bhim Army MP Chandra Shekhar Azad “instigators”, Live Law said.“In view of the circumstances surrounding the alleged attempt to enter the Parliament House premises and the possibility of involvement of organised or external elements, a comprehensive investigation by a specialised national security agency is necessary to ascertain the true facts, identify the persons responsible, and examine any larger conspiracy behind the incident,” the petitioner claims.Just a day earlier, Wednesday, July 21, the Supreme Court had refused to hear another urgent matter related to allegations of severe police violence against protesters on Monday, July 20. “Don’t waste our time,” Chief Justice of India Krishna Kant said while turning away a lawyer who sought the court’s cognisance on the matter.The Supreme Court bench that refused to hear the petition included Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohan.The month-old youth youth protest was sparked by the CJI’s remarks in court in June that compared the unemployed (and some others) to cockroaches. Kant later said he was misunderstood and “misquoted” but the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) emerged out of a ironical social media moment anyway. It has since snowballed into a multi-state youth protest without the CJP playing any apparent role.When the lawyer informed the Supreme Court bench on Wednesday about videographic evidence of police brutality against the protesters, the CJI had said that the court’s time should not be “wasted”, The Wire reported yesterday. “Don’t waste our time, and don’t waste your time,” he told the lawyer.“We are not interested in videos. We don’t have time to watch them,” he said.A day later, a division bench of Delhi high court comprising Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia agreed to list the PIL brought by advocate Barun Kumar Sinha, representing Satish Kumar Aggarwal, an ex-vice president of the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha, seeking a probe into the funding of the July 20 march to parliament.“Entire roads have been blocked. Citizens of Delhi are suffering” he said. “Alright. Tomorrow,” Chief Justice Upadhyaya responded.Also read: Police Stop Autorickshaws From Reaching Jantar Mantar, Don’t Say WhyThe CJP had called for a ‘Chalo Sansad’ march to parliament on July 20, which was stopped with violent police supression, including the alleged use of pellet guns against participants, who included many minors, and attacks by men in civilian dress accompanying police. In the two days since the aborted march to parliament, the Border Security Force has been deployed in the Jantar Mantar area in large numbers and other forces have stepped up their presence. Metro stations and internet access have been repeatedly barred.Thousands of students are flocking to the site, many saying that watching the forces thrash and teargas students prompted them. Many joining the movement are from smaller towns and villages of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.The protest has drawn students, professionals, parents and concerned citizens to protest in numerous other cities. The students have been supported by opposition political parties as well as notable public figures and film personalities, who vociferously demand accountability for how the police and other forces treated young protesters on July 20.Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi was detained on Tuesday (July 21) for raising the students’ issues at a sit-in before the Prime Minister’s residence. Former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav and several others, including Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi, were also detained during the sit-in.Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that a fast-track court would try those accused of paper leaks, but the students seek an altogether different remedy: the minister responsible should step down and a better system for exams than the National Testing Agency.Also on Wednesday, the Delhi high court sought responses from the Union government and Delhi Police on two PILs alleging excessive use of force against protesters during the July 20 march, the Hindu reports. It also directed authorities to preserve all records related to the police action, including CCTV footage and videography, the New Indian Express reports.