The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition seeking an independent and fair probe into FIRs registered by the Delhi Police in connection with the CJP-led protests at Jantar Mantar against the NEET paper leak that culminated in the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as Union Education Minister.A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant refused to reopen the probe into FIRs registered in connection with the CJP-led July protests, saying it invoked its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution only to save young students and their parents the ordeal of prolonged criminal proceedings.“You say we should not have invoked Article 142 and quashed FIRs. Please appreciate, these are young students. We have to see their parents, their future. We don’t want them to have to come to court over and over again,” the Bench noted.The top court has already constituted a high-powered enquiry committee (HPEC) led by former Supreme Court judge R Subhash Reddy to look into allegations of excessive use of force by the police, violence against security personnel and damage to public property, besides harassment of women during the July 20 CJP-led protests.It frowned upon attempts to challenge its September 1 order quashing the FIRs, noting that petitioner L Ramanathan essentially sought a review of the earlier order which could not be allowed.It also refused the petitioner’s prayer to declare that police, like the judiciary, exercise sovereign and independent functions in maintaining law and order and investigate crimes, free from interference unless their actions were contrary to law.The Bench referred to its recent order quashing a number of criminal cases in Himachal Pradesh over public protests held during the Covid-19 pandemic, saying the protesters were young students and not hardened criminals. “In Himachal Pradesh, they sat on dharna, they caused loss to public property. But when there was COVID, people of this country were not ready to face this kind of crisis, so people reacted in a way they could react,” CJI Kant noted.