What happened: Supreme Court tags a Rajya Sabha MP petition on NEET protest surveillance
The Supreme Court agreed to tag a petition filed by Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) A.A. Rahim with the main set of petitions dealing with the NEET protests. The court’s Bench, led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, heard submissions from the petitioner’s counsel on claimed surveillance practices during protests against alleged NEET-UG (NEET Undergraduate) exam paper leaks.
The petition seeks to confront the Union government and the Delhi Police Commissioner with specific questions about the use of facial recognition and mass-surveillance measures against people who participated in the protests. The petition also alleges that biometric surveillance occurred without legal authorisation and without adherence to procedural and statutory provisions for lawful assembly and identification of individuals.
Claims made in the petition: biometric extraction, matching, and continuous surveillance
Senior advocates appearing for the petitioner argued that the surveillance relied on biometric data extraction and matching of many protestors, and that the matched information was linked to larger national criminal databases. The petition also alleges that journalists and citizens faced continuous biometric surveillance after a sit-in began on July 20.
What legal issue the petition raises: surveillance in a claimed “legal vacuum”
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