New Delhi: The Delhi government issued a notification on Thursday (July 30) saying that it would not move against protesters in the NEET-UG exam paper leak protests, except those with “criminal antecedents”. It cited the July 28 order of the Supreme Court as the reason for carving out a separate category of protesters who could face criminal charges.The notification said that no action would be taken against the remaining protesters and the FIRs would be treated as “closed”.“The protection, however, shall not extend to persons having criminal antecedents, as mandated in the order of Hon’ble Supreme Court mentioned above,” the notification said.The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which agreed to withdraw its protest on July 25 based on an assurance from the Union government that no legal action would be taken against the protesters, reiterated its opposition to this pre-condition.“The Delhi government notification uses misleading terms,” Saurav Das, national spokesperson of the CJP, told PTI. “The term they should have used is that the FIRs will be ‘withdrawn’, not that they would be treated as ‘closed’.” he said.He said the reference to the Supreme Court order of July 28 as ‘mandating’ FIRs against protesters with prior criminal cases was “misleading” and a “misreading” of the court’s order.Also read: CJP Calls off Protest Amid Jubilant Crowds at Jantar Mantar, Lays Out Terms in Press Conference With MinistersDas said that the powers to withdraw police cases lies with the government and that the reliance on the Supreme Court’s July 28 order to continue pursuing cases against protesters was incorrect.“Nowhere in the Supreme Court order has it ‘mandated’ FIRs or prevented state government from withdrawing cases,” he said, adding, “That power remains with governments.”“The government should not be using the Supreme Court order as a weapon to go against protesters. What was guaranteed before the entire nation, on July 25, the Jantar Mantar agreement, the government should come good on its promises, honour its words. Because if it does not do so, in letter and in spirit, then the young generation of the country will never ever forgive them and will be forced to come back on the streets,” he said.An order similar to the Delhi notifiation was passed by the West Bengal government, refusing to stall cases against those with alleged criminal antecedents.In Bihar as well, those with prior cases are not covered by the state government’s immunity. The Bihar police had claimed to have arrested or detained 694 people while the student agitation was on. Of these, 339 minors were released while 355 people remain in custody.Apart from those facing action due to alleged prior records, individuals, too, face FIRs and detentions across the country. These include Junaid Malik from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, who moved the Supreme Court after repeated ‘detentions’. Malik distributed food at the Jantar Mantar protest site and was allegedly quizzed for hours by police over the sources of his “funding”.His petition says he was detained by state police officials on July 24 midnight and then again by police personnel from Delhi who allegedly threatened and intimidated him.At the same time, a non-bailable warrant against Aishe Ghosh related to another matter was quashed on Thursday by a Delhi court. The Delhi Police had arrived at the Communist Party of India (Marxist) offices seeking to execute the warrant on Tuesday (July 28), signalling that previous cases would be acted upon.Following the Supreme Court’s remarks on July 28, Das had said that the CJP has “credible apprehension” that the Union government and BJP-ruled states may “seek to use and weaponise this order … to continue FIRs against individual protesters and subject them to great harassment”.The Supreme Court cannot be politicised for government’s gains. Its orders cannot be weaponised to achieve those gains. A solemn guarantee was given before the nation. Those ought to be honoured. All FIRs ought to be withdrawn. If criminals roamed, police must apply for…— Saurav Das (@SauravDassss) July 28, 2026