NEW DELHI: The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Monday announced plans to launch a website to raise public donations for a legal aid fund and connect lawyers with protesters facing legal action after the 37-day NEET agitation. The announcement came amid the party’s allegations that protesters were being detained and cases were being filed despite assurances from the Centre that no action would be taken after the agitation ended on July 25. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, CJP chief spokesperson Saurav Das said the organisation had sought legal advice from senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal before and after calling off the protests. Das said the party feared that participants could face legal action once the movement ended. “We were in constant touch with Kapil ji and had sought legal guidance. When we called off the protest on the 25th, we apprehended that in the future, once the movement subsided or the momentum of the protest waned, the government might start targeting individuals. This is a very credible apprehension, as the same playbook has been observed in other major protests where individuals were singled out and implicated in false cases,” he said.He said the organisation had been providing legal and medical support to students since the beginning of the agitation and was now expanding that network across states.
Sibal pledges Rs 1 crore aid
Kapil Sibal announced financial support for the initiative and said he would contribute Rs 1 crore to the legal aid fund. He also appealed to lawyers across the country to represent protesters facing cases. “We don’t want any action against those who sat in protest. It was an organic protest. Often governments want no dissent. Wherever there were peaceful protests and wherever protestors were targeted, they will create a website. I will give Rs 1 crore. I appeal to lawyers to aid us so that wherever in India there are trials our lawyers will help protestors who are being tried,” Sibal said.
CJP seeks written agreement
Earlier in the day, the CJP accused the Centre of violating the understanding reached when the protest was called off.In a post on X, CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka alleged that students had been arrested in Bihar and West Bengal, while volunteers in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh were being detained or harassed.The party demanded that FIRs against protesters be withdrawn, detained students be released and a written agreement on legal protections be shared by Tuesday. It warned that it would resume protests if these demands were not met.Ranka said the CJP had submitted a draft agreement to Union ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh and was waiting for the government to share the final version after legal consultations.