Bihar Government Withdraws Cases Against NEET Protesters

The Bihar government announced on Monday evening that it would withdraw all criminal cases lodged against demonstrators who took part in protests over the NEET-UG 2024 paper leak, releasing those detained and barring any future legal action against them. A statement from the state Home Department specified that no “punitive, retaliatory, or adverse legal action” would be taken against individuals who participated in agitations before 6 p.m. on July 26, and that the legal process to quash FIRs, criminal complaints, and show-cause notices would begin immediately (The Hindu).

The decision came hours after All India Students’ Association (AISA) national president Neha Bora met Bihar Director General of Police Vinay Kumar and submitted a memorandum demanding the withdrawal of cases. Bora, who had been on a 23-day hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, warned that the state could witness protests on the scale of the Delhi agitation if the demands were not met (The Hindu). CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya described the move as “another retreat for the BJP, victory for the people” (The Hindu).

Police records show that 694 people were detained across Bihar during the bandh called by pro-Left students’ unions on July 25. After verification, 339 minors were released, while the remaining 355 were booked under relevant laws and were facing trial (The Hindu). Among those arrested in the unrest that began on July 22 were CPI(ML) Liberation MLA Sandeep Saurav, picked up a day before the bandh, and former state minister Tej Pratap Yadav, taken into custody on July 25 for attempting to enforce the shutdown (The Hindu).

The Bihar announcement mirrored a near-simultaneous decision by the Assam government, which also set a 6 p.m. July 26 cut-off for withdrawing cases and reviewing arrests. Thirteen people had been arrested and five cases registered in Assam in connection with the protests (Indian Express). The coordinated reversals followed pressure from the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which alleged a “complete breach” of an understanding reached with the Centre on July 25. At a Delhi press conference, CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka, flanked by Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal and fellow spokesperson Saurav Das, claimed “hundreds of students” had been arrested in BJP-ruled states and demanded the immediate withdrawal of all FIRs (Indian Express). Sibal announced a Rs 1 crore corpus to fund a nationwide legal aid network for protesters, alongside an online evidence-gathering platform named SAAKSHI (Indian Express).

While Bihar and Assam moved to de-escalate, the West Bengal government continued to hold protesters in custody. In Kolkata, the BJP organised two Tiranga Yatras on Monday against what it described as violence during the NEET protests. Senior leaders, including ministers Agnimitra Paul and Tapas Ray, led marches that retraced the route taken by CJP demonstrators on July 24, when clashes at Dorina Crossing led to at least 16 arrests (The Hindu). Posters at the BJP marches depicted cockroaches being eaten by lizards with slogans such as “Beware of disguised cockroaches” and “We will crush the cockroach gang and build the nation,” alleging foreign funding for the CJP movement (The Hindu). A separate rally by journalists in Kolkata protested attacks on media personnel during the July 24 demonstration; police said at least six FIRs had been registered in connection with those assaults (The Hindu).

The legal fallout extended to Karnataka, where Bengaluru City Police registered a suo motu FIR on July 24 against an unidentified woman for displaying posters hailing Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam—both undertrials in the 2020 North-East Delhi riots case—at a NEET protest in Freedom Park. The FIR was filed under Section 192 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, for wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause a riot (The Hindu). AISA Bengaluru general secretary Aratrika called the case “baseless,” while CPI(ML) leader Clifton D’Rozario and lawyer Shivani argued that expressing solidarity with undertrials falls within legitimate democratic discourse. Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge rejected BJP state president B.Y. Vijayendra’s demand for action, stating the state police “know when to exercise restraint, when to use force and how to uphold the law impartially” (The Hindu).

At the Centre, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in a cabinet meeting that stricter actions against paper leaks would be forthcoming (PIB). The episode underscores the unresolved tension between the state response to examination integrity failures and the political contestation over the right to protest, with West Bengal’s stance remaining the immediate point of divergence.