Cockroach Janta Party protests over exam paper leaks

Now

19 Jul 2026. In a public advisory posted on X on 19 July, the DCP, New Delhi said that no permission had been sought or granted for the CJP's proposed march to Parliament on 20 July.

Now

19 Jul 2026. Prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS were in force across New Delhi district before the 20 July 'Chalo Sansad' march. A public advisory from the DCP, New Delhi said that protest marches, processions, demonstrations and assemblies of five or more persons were prohibited except at the designated site at Jantar Mantar, with prior permission.

2022

17 Jun 2022. Prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC were imposed in Palwal on 16 June and in Faridabad. On 17 June, Gurugram District Magistrate Nishant Kumar Yadav issued an order prohibiting the free movement of persons and gatherings of more than four people in Gurugram district, in force until further orders. On 20 June, the day of a Bharat Bandh call, police in several areas imposed Section 144, and prohibitory orders were reported in some districts of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Assam and Rajasthan.

2012

23 Dec 2012. Delhi Police prohibitory orders barred assemblies in central New Delhi, including India Gate, Rajpath and the area near Rashtrapati Bhavan, and police asked protesters to demonstrate at Jantar Mantar or Ramlila Maidan instead. Reports differ on the threshold: PTI reported a ban on four or more people, Al Jazeera on more than five. A public interest petition in the Delhi High Court (WP 8127 of 2012, Anand K. Mishra v. Delhi Police) described the order as dated 22 December and challenged it as a breach of the rights to assemble and move freely; the Additional Solicitor General argued for Delhi Police that protesters were obstructing traffic and that the order was within Section 144, and on 2 January 2013 the Chief Justice's bench reserved orders. The Associated Press reported that on 23 December authorities withdrew the ban on assembly in the high-security zone as crowds converged, while keeping barricades. On 25 December police told protesters at Jantar Mantar that prohibitory orders were in place and no protests were allowed in and around India Gate.

Now

17 Jul 2026. The Ministry of Home Affairs ordered mobile internet services suspended within about 1.5 km of Jantar Mantar, in orders dated 17, 20, 22 and 23 July, citing public safety and averting a public emergency. Mobile internet was cut or disrupted around the protest site in central Delhi on 20 July. A public interest petition by SFLC.in that challenged the orders in the Delhi High Court was withdrawn after the protests were called off. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International condemned the suspension.

2022

17 Jun 2022. The Haryana government suspended mobile internet, SMS and dongle services in Palwal district for 24 hours from 16 June, and on 17 June for 24 hours in Mahendragarh district and the Ballabhgarh area of Faridabad, saying it wanted to stop the spread of disinformation and rumours. The Bihar Home Department suspended internet services in 12 districts from 17 June until 19 June. Reports differ on the later extent in Bihar: a Police Headquarters statement on 19 June said 17 of 38 districts remained under suspension, while Hindustan Times and The Times of India reported 20 districts. Services were restored on 21 June.

Now

21 Jul 2026. Police detained Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other opposition leaders at a sit-in outside the Prime Minister's residence and released them later the same day.

2012

25 Dec 2012. On 25 December police detained a group of young women protesters from Jantar Mantar and outside Parliament Street police station for violating prohibitory orders, and released them after about four hours. The women alleged that police manhandled them; police sources denied this and said the group had tried to incite others and break through barricades.

Now

20 Jul 2026. Police used batons and canes on the march. The use of pellets is contested: Delhi Police denied using pellet guns, while The Hindu reported a hospital source who said one protester had pellet injuries, and the Hindustan Times reported a police general diary entry that recorded plastic pellets fired by the Rapid Action Force on a DCP's orders.

2012

23 Dec 2012. On 23 December police used batons, tear gas and water cannon to clear crowds at India Gate and near Vijay Chowk. Reports describe some protesters throwing stones, burning barricades and overturning vehicles; police said the protest had been joined by hooligans. Journalists' bodies protested at the Press Club of India against police action on reporters. Late on 24 December Delhi Police tweeted an apology to any innocent protester who had been hurt or lathi-charged. In its report the Justice Verma Committee wrote: "The lathi charge on peaceful demonstrators after the December 16 gang rape has scarred the Indian democracy."

Now

20 Jul 2026. Police fired tear gas at marchers heading toward Parliament. Police said protesters tried to breach barricades and threw stones at security forces, and that 118 personnel and 60 civilians were injured and about 70 people detained. Organisers said at least 150 protesters were wounded.

2022

16 Jun 2022. Police in Bihar fired tear gas shells and baton-charged protesters at several places, on a day when protesters set train coaches on fire at Bhabua, Chhapra and other stations and a BJP office was set on fire in Nawada. Hindustan Times reported tear gas at Ara and Bhabua and baton charges in Begusarai, Nawada, Jehanabad and other districts; at Chhapra, an RPF inspector said the RPF fired eight rounds in the air to disperse the crowd.

2012

22 Dec 2012. On 22 December Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force personnel used water cannon, tear gas and baton charges to push back protesters who gathered at Raisina Hill, near Rashtrapati Bhavan and Parliament House, and tried to march towards Rashtrapati Bhavan. Some protesters tried to break through barricades, and buses and police vehicles were damaged. Al Jazeera reported that some women protesters were injured when police charged them near a central government building. Delhi Police registered a case of rioting and damage to public property at Parliament Street police station.

Now

20 Jul 2026. Union minister J. P. Nadda met CJP spokespersons on 20 July; Nadda and the CJP gave different accounts of who proposed the talks. CJP representatives held further talks with the government on 24 July, and a third round with Nadda and Jitendra Singh took place on 25 July.

2006

18 May 2006. The Prime Minister set up a Group of Ministers headed by Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee; IANS reported that it also included Arjun Singh and P. Chidambaram. On 18 May striker representatives met Mukherjee, and a striking doctor told Rediff that the government said general-category seats would not be touched; the strikers rejected a proposal to increase the number of seats. The GoM held a meeting on 19 May and on 20 May submitted its report, which recommended increasing seats so that the general category would not be affected.

Now

23 Jul 2026. Prime Minister Modi announced in a video on X that a draft law with fast-track courts and stricter punishment for paper leaks would go to the Cabinet the next day. Wangchuk ended his 26-day fast the same night, saying the government had assured him that no legal action would be taken against protesters.

25 Jul 2026. Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as Education Minister before a third round of talks. The President accepted the resignation on the Prime Minister's advice, and Pralhad Joshi was given charge of the Ministry of Education. The CJP said its demands had been met and called off the protests; its other demands included compensation and the withdrawal of cases against protesters.

2022

16 Jun 2022. The Union government gave a one-time waiver that raised the upper age limit for Agnipath recruitment in 2022 from 21 to 23. The Defence Ministry release said this was because it had not been possible to undertake recruitment during the last two years.

18 Jun 2022. The Home Ministry announced 10% reservation of vacancies for Agniveers in the Central Armed Police Forces and Assam Rifles, with a 3-year age relaxation (5 years for the first batch). Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved 10% reservation of Ministry of Defence job vacancies for Agniveers, in the Indian Coast Guard, defence civilian posts and 16 defence PSUs. On 19 June, Lt Gen Anil Puri, Additional Secretary in the Department of Military Affairs, said the reservation announcement was planned and was not a reaction to the protests.

2006

27 May 2006. An Oversight Committee was constituted under the orders of the Prime Minister on 27 May 2006, according to the committee's final report; the government announced it on 28-29 May. Chaired by M. Veerappa Moily, Chairman of the Administrative Reforms Commission, the 13-member committee was to report by 31 August 2006 (later extended to 30 September) on implementing 27 per cent OBC reservation and on the additional infrastructure needed so that seats available to general-category students would not fall. It held its first meeting on 30 May.

Now

18 Jul 2026. Police and paramilitary personnel removed Sonam Wangchuk, on hunger strike since 28 June, from the stage at Jantar Mantar and took him to Safdarjung Hospital. DCP Sachin Sharma said he was moved in compliance with a court order and on medical advice. The BBC and The Guardian reported that he was removed by force; his wife Gitanjali Angmo called his confinement in hospital illegal detention.

21 Jul 2026. On an appeal by Wangchuk's wife Gitanjali J. Angmo, whose petition called his confinement at Safdarjung Hospital illegal, a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court directed that he be shifted immediately to Medanta Hospital, Gurugram, the hospital of his choice. The Solicitor General said the government had no objection.

2022

27 Feb 2023. A Division Bench of the Delhi High Court (Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad) dismissed a batch of writ petitions that challenged the Agnipath scheme or sought completion of earlier recruitment processes. It held that the scheme was not arbitrary, capricious or devoid of reason and that it was made in national interest to ensure that the Armed Forces are better equipped.

2006

16 May 2006. The National Human Rights Commission took note of reports of an unprovoked lathi charge on students in Delhi and Mumbai, said the allegations if true raised a serious issue of violation of human rights, and directed the Police Commissioners of Delhi and Mumbai to send factual reports within two weeks. On 26 May it recommended that the government examine the reservation issue thoroughly and asked the strikers to resume work.

29 May 2006. A Supreme Court vacation bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat and Lokeshwar Singh Panta issued notice on writ petitions filed by Ashoka Kumar Thakur and by Shiv Khera challenging the OBC quota. It asked the Centre to state in a counter-affidavit, within eight weeks, the basis for identifying Other Backward Classes and the modalities for implementing the policy. The Hindu reported that the court refused to stay the 93rd Amendment and that the bench said the protesters should end their agitation because the matter was before the court.

30 May 2006. The same bench took up the petitions suo motu. Its order recorded that, although the court had indicated that agitations, protests and strikes on the issue should be called off, the contrary seemed to be happening, and asked the Additional Solicitor General to file a memorandum on whether they were continuing. The Hindu and The Tribune reported that the bench said protests on a matter before the court could amount to contempt. Youth for Equality said, after legal advice, that it would continue the strike because the court's remarks were not an order addressed to the students.

31 May 2006. The bench directed that all protests, strikes and demonstrations relating to the issues before it be called off forthwith and that medical services be restored, citing a patient's right to treatment under Article 21. It said it was sure the government would take no punitive action once the strikes were called off, and directed that doctors whose services had been terminated be allowed to rejoin within three days; the Additional Solicitor General stated that the termination orders would then be recalled. It added that anyone could make representations to the Centre or apply to join the case. The same day Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss warned that doctors who did not resume duty would be served termination notices. Resident doctors of AIIMS, Safdarjung, Lady Hardinge and Maulana Azad Medical College called off the strike that night; IIT, JNU and Delhi University students said they would continue. On 1 June the court recorded that normal medical services had been restored.

18 Dec 2006. Parliament passed the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Bill, 2006 (introduced 25 August 2006; passed by the Lok Sabha on 14 December and by the Rajya Sabha on 18 December 2006). It received assent on 3 January 2007 as Act No. 5 of 2007 and provides for 15 per cent SC, 7.5 per cent ST and 27 per cent OBC reservation in central educational institutions, excluding minority institutions.

10 Apr 2008. In Ashoka Kumar Thakur v Union of India (Writ Petition (Civil) No. 265 of 2006) a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court held that the 93rd Constitutional Amendment did not violate the basic structure of the Constitution as regards state-maintained and aided institutions, leaving open its validity for private unaided institutions, and that Act 5 of 2007 was not invalid. It held that the creamy layer must be excluded from the OBCs. The lead opinion of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan said Parliament could review the reservation after ten years; the opinion of Justice Arijit Pasayat (with Justice C.K. Thakker) called for a review every five years.

2022

18 Jun 2022. Police in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Telangana registered cases and made arrests. Bihar figures given by police and officials rose from 24 FIRs on 17 June to between 145 and 159 FIRs by 19-20 June, and arrests from more than 125 to between 804 and 879; one figure from the ADG (Law and Order), 600 cases, differs from the others (see figures). In Uttar Pradesh, police said on 18 June that 340 people had been arrested and 29 cases lodged in 12 districts. In Palwal, Haryana, police booked over 1,000 people in three FIRs and arrested 23. In Secunderabad, the Railway Police registered a case on the station manager's complaint under rioting, attempt to murder and other IPC sections, the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and the Railways Act.

2022

17 Jun 2022. Police opened fire on protesters at Secunderabad railway station in Telangana after protesters vandalised the station and set train coaches on fire. One person, Damera (Damira) Rakesh from Warangal district, died; Gandhi Hospital's superintendent said 13 people were brought to the hospital. Reports differ on which force fired: The Indian Express reported that Telangana police allegedly opened fire, while The Hindu reported that the station manager's complaint, on which the Secunderabad Railway Police registered a case, said police opened fire on the legs in self-defence to stop protesters setting fire to locomotives. Reports give Rakesh's age as 24 (The Indian Express) and 18 (The News Minute).

2012

23 Dec 2012. On Delhi Police directions, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation announced late on 22 December that four stations near India Gate would close until further orders, and shut four more on the morning of 23 December. The eight stations shut on 23 December were Race Course, Udyog Bhawan, Central Secretariat, Patel Chowk, Barakhamba Road, Mandi House, Khan Market and Pragati Maidan. On 24 December nine were shut, adding Rajiv Chowk. Police barricaded Rajpath and the road from India Gate to Rashtrapati Bhavan, and traffic police closed the arterial roads leading to India Gate. All nine stations reopened on 25 December.

2012

23 Dec 2012. The Union government constituted a three-member Committee on Amendments to Criminal Law, chaired by former Chief Justice of India J. S. Verma, with Justice Leila Seth and Gopal Subramanium, to recommend amendments to criminal law for quicker trial and enhanced punishment in cases of aggravated sexual assault. Its report, dated 23 January 2013, says the committee was constituted in response to the country-wide public outcry.