The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Tuesday welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision to quash FIRs against NEET protesters and urged the government to ensure its proposed compensation policy provides relief to affected families.

The court quashed FIRs registered against students who participated in CJP-led protests between July 20 and 25 over the NEET-UG paper leak. The relief also covers unidentified protesters and cases omitted from lists submitted by the Centre and states.

CJP founder and national convenor Abhijeet Dipke described the ruling as a victory for students who faced criminal cases for exercising their right to protest.

“Students should be in classrooms, not police stations. They should not have to take to the streets to demand basic accountability from their government,” he said.

The CJP also welcomed the Centre’s commitment to formulate a nationwide compensation policy within three months for families of students who died by suicide in connection with the examination crisis.

CJP co-convenor Saurav Das said the policy must be fair, transparent and accessible to every eligible family. He said the organisation would monitor its implementation and continue supporting affected families.

According to Das, the Supreme Court quashed more than 130 FIRs and recorded that states and Union territories would not register fresh cases against protesters over their participation in the demonstrations.

The CJP said its leaders had begun contacting victims’ families. Dipke spoke to several families, while co-convenor Ashutosh Ranka visited the family of Pradeep Meghwal in Sikar, Rajasthan.

The organisation has called off its march scheduled for September 5.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant also directed the Centre to provide compensation within three months. However, it permitted Delhi Police to register fresh FIRs against 2,873 people with serious criminal antecedents who were present at the Jantar Mantar protest.

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