After Mumbai’s NEET protests, hundreds of youngsters get police notices on WhatsApp

The seven FIRs registered on Monday take the total number of FIRs in connection with the NEET protests in Mumbai to 12. The number of accused has crossed 900, with one of the FIRs registered after Saturday’s protest at Shivaji Park naming “500 to 600” unidentified persons. The FIRs invoke bailable offences related to unlawful assembly and disobedience of lawful orders, carrying a maximum punishment of up to two years.

Giving a breakdown of Monday’s FIRs, police said Worli police registered an FIR against 21 persons, Sion police named 39 accused, Kalachowky police 22, Bhoiwada police 30, Mahim police 100, Dadar police 70, while Wadala TT police named one accused and 30 unidentified persons. An officer said all the FIRs would subsequently be transferred to Shivaji Park police station for investigation.

Earlier, three FIRs had been registered in connection with Saturday’s Shivaji Park protest, attended by Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, while two others were registered in south Mumbai over protests allegedly held without police permission.

“We have registered FIRs against those who attended these protests because permission had not been granted, despite which protesters gathered at the spot,” a senior police officer said.

A police source said Mumbai Police was keen to ensure that, unlike in Delhi, protesters did not gather at a single convergence point from where it would become difficult to disperse them.

Lawyers assisting the protesters said the notices do not amount to arrest but require recipients to cooperate with the investigation. However, they said receiving such notices means those named have formally become part of a criminal investigation and are legally bound to appear before the investigating officer.

“It is very unusual that the police have named hundreds of persons in FIRs filed over a protest. During previous protests, they would usually name a few organisers or activists, not so many participants,” said advocate Vijay Hiremath.

Advocate Vikrant Khare, who has been providing legal assistance to those named in the FIRs, said police across several jurisdictions detained youngsters even before they reached the protest venues.

He added that in some cases, notices were delivered to the homes of those who did not report to police stations, with several parents learning for the first time that their children had participated in the protests.

Lawyers also pointed out that in 2022, the Maharashtra Home Department issued a Government Resolution permitting the withdrawal of criminal cases arising out of political and social agitations, subject to conditions including that no loss of life had occurred and damage to public property did not exceed Rs 5 lakh. Several cases, including some registered during the 2020 CAA protests, were subsequently withdrawn.

Among those who received a notice was Mumbai-based law student Shreya Subramaniyam, who woke up on Tuesday to find a WhatsApp message, sent around 2.45 am, directing her to appear before Shivaji Park police station in connection with Monday’s protest at Chaityabhumi in Dadar.

Subramaniyam said she was detained after intervening when she saw protesters being forcibly taken into police vehicles.

“That is when I was also pushed into a police vehicle and taken to Dadar police station. Everyone was released later that night, so none of us thought there would be anything more to it,” she said.

Calling the support extended by volunteer lawyers reassuring, Subramaniyam said receiving the notice was nevertheless intimidating.

Shravani Bhaije, a performing arts student, said she too found a police notice on her phone on Tuesday morning after participating in Saturday’s protest outside Patrakar Bhavan near Azad Maidan.

She said she supports the movement because she sees it as a fight against the alleged injustice faced by lakhs of students appearing for competitive examinations, adding that she had herself gone through the process a few years ago.

Aamir Kazi of the All India Students’ Federation (AISF) claimed that more than 100 notices had been issued by Mahim police station alone. He alleged that the large-scale issuance of notices was intended to intimidate young protesters.