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The people’s newsroom

PolicyHome affairs

Supreme Court-appointed panel opens portal for complaints over July Jantar Mantar violence

The committee headed by former judge R Subhash Reddy will look first at the use of pellet guns, attacks on women protesters and damage to property on either side.

From the editorial desk · New DelhiPublished

Key points

  1. The High Powered Enquiry Committee has launched hpec.nic.in for complaints and evidence.
  2. Priority will go to pellet guns, violence against women protesters and property damage.
  3. Witnesses can keep their identities confidential if they wish.

A committee set up by the Supreme Court to examine the violence at Jantar Mantar in July has opened an online portal for people to file complaints and evidence, the Home Ministry said on Saturday.

The High Powered Enquiry Committee (HPEC) is looking into all aspects of the violence at Jantar Mantar and at places outside Delhi during July 2026. The portal, hpec.nic.in, is open to everyone affected, including police personnel who were hurt, the ministry said.

The panel will examine the issues listed in the court’s orders of 18 August and 10 September. It will give priority to “the use of pellet guns, targeted violence and harassment of female protestors, and excessive violence and destruction of property occasioned on either side”.

The portal has been built to protect vulnerable witnesses, who can keep their identities confidential if they choose. Anyone with information or suggestions on the issues before the committee can also use it. Those who prefer to file on paper can hand in complaints at the HPEC office at Shiksha Sadan, 17 Rouse Avenue Institutional Area, New Delhi, between 2 pm and 4 pm on working days, or send them by post or by email to hpec2026.enquiry@nic.in.

The five-member committee is headed by former Supreme Court judge R Subhash Reddy. Its other members are Ravi Shankar Jha, a former Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court; Shalinder Kaur, a former Delhi High Court judge; Rishi Kumar Shukla, a former CBI director; and L R Bishnoi, a retired Meghalaya police chief.

The inquiry grew out of petitions over the police response to a protest by supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party at Jantar Mantar on 20 July. Petitioners alleged that police used batons, pellet guns and tear gas, and that women were attacked. Delhi Police has denied using excessive force and says protesters broke barricades and clashed with its personnel.

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