Shailendra Mani Tripathi v. Union of India & Ors.

ITEM NOS.41 + 48 COURT NO.1 SECTION PIL-W

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

Writ Petition(s)(Criminal) No(s). 280/2026

SHAILENDRA MANI TRIPATHI Petitioner(s)
VERSUS
UNION OF INDIA & ORS. Respondent(s)

(IA No. 252619/2026 - APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS, IA No. 223792/2026 - APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS, IA No. 217875/2026 - APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS, IA No. 258046/2026 - APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS, IA No. 226656/2026 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T., IA No. 244626/2026 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T., IA No. 228533/2026 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T., IA No. 217464/2026 - INTERVENTION APPLICATION, IA No. 252611/2026 - INTERVENTION APPLICATION, IA No. 221812/2026 - INTERVENTION APPLICATION, IA No. 244625/2026 - INTERVENTION APPLICATION, IA No. 237606/2026 - INTERVENTION APPLICATION, IA No. 228532/2026 – INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT, IA No. 228520/2026 – INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT, IA No. 220095/2026 – INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT, IA No. 218078/2026 – INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT, IA No. 217465/2026 - PERMISSION TO APPEAR AND ARGUE IN PERSON, IA No. 252621/2026 - PERMISSION TO APPEAR AND ARGUE IN PERSON, IA No. 244549/2026 - PERMISSION TO APPEAR AND ARGUE IN PERSON and IA No. 317371/2026 - PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES)
WITH
W.P.(Crl.) No. 279/2026 (X)
[Dr. Monika Gusain, Senior Advocate and Mr. C. Solomon, Advocate-on-Record as learned Amicus Curiae Ms. Ashima Mandla, Advocate-on-Record, Mr. Daksh Kadian, Advocate and Ms. Astha Singh, Advocate-on-record as Nodal Officers]
(IA No. 213827/2026 - APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS, IA No. 215310/2026 - INTERVENTION APPLICATION, IA No. 221781/2026 – INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT and IA No. 216101/2026 - INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT)
W.P.(Crl.) No. 286/2026 (PIL-W)
W.P.(Crl.) No. 282/2026 (PIL-W)
IA No. 215863/2026 - EX-PARTE AD-INTERIM RELIEF
W.P.(Crl.) No. 283/2026 (PIL-W)
(IA No. 218921/2026 - INTERVENTION APPLICATION and IA No. 217895/2026 - INTERVENTION APPLICATION)
W.P.(C) No. 917/2026 (PIL-W)
(IA No. 217509/2026 - APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS)
W.P.(C) No. 958/2026 (PIL-W)
W.P.(C) No. 959/2026 (PIL-W)
W.P.(C) No. 973/2026 (PIL-W)
(IA No. 229510/2026 - APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS)
W.P.(Crl.) No. 324/2026 (X)
Dr. Monika Gusain, Senior Advocate and Mr. C. Solomon, Advocate-on-Record as learned Amicus Curiae
Ms. Ashima Mandla, Advocate-on-Record, Mr. Daksh Kadian, Advocate and Ms. Astha Singh, Advocate-on-record as Nodal Officers
(IA No. 241573/2026 - APPLICATION FOR TAGGING/DETAGGING, IA No. 241569/2026 - EX-PARTE AD-INTERIM RELIEF, IA No. 278708/2026 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T. and IA No. 241576/2026 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.)
W.P.(C) No. 969/2026 (PIL-W)
(IA No. 323884/2026 - APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS, IA No. 323883/2026 - EARLY HEARING APPLICATION, IA No. 228490/2026 - PERMISSION TO APPEAR AND ARGUE IN PERSON and IA No. 323886/2026 - PERMISSION TO PLACE ON RECORD SUBSEQUENT FACTS)
W.P.(C) No. 1042/2026 (PIL-W)
(IA No. 259093/2026 - APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS, IA No. 259264/2026 - APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS, IA No. 259091/2026 - INTERVENTION APPLICATION)
W.P.(Crl.) No. 321/2026 (X)
(IA No. 318070/2026 - WITHDRAWAL OF CASE / APPLICATION)
W.P.(C) No. 1066/2026 (PIL-W)
(IA No. 269937/2026 - PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS /ANNEXURES)
W.P.(C) No. 930/2026 (PIL-W)
(IA No. 237832/2026 - INTERVENTION APPLICATION)
WITH
ITEM NO. 48
Transfer Case (Criminal) No(s). 6/2026

Date : 05-11-2026 These matters were called on for hearing today.

CORAM : HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JOYMALYA BAGCHI

For Petitioner(s) : Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Sr. Adv. Mr. Shoeb Alam, Sr. Adv. Ms. Fauzia Shakil, Adv. Mr. Ujjwal Singh- 3226, AOR Ms. Nazmeen Ahmed, Adv. Mr. Khalid Ali, Adv. Mr. Daksh Kadian, Adv. Ms. Trisha Chandran, AOR Mr. Tenzing Namgyal, Adv. Ms. Mallika Agarwal, Adv. Mr. Harsh Srivastava, Adv. Mr. Sreekar Aechuri, Adv. Ms. Smruthi Gangadharaiah, Adv. Ms. Aadya Khanna, Adv. Mr. Abhishek Singh, Adv. Mr. Mridul Godha, Adv. Ms. Ankita Gupta, Adv. Mr. Rithwik Narayanan, Adv. Ms. Sarah Ayreen Mir, Adv. Mr. Gladson Rodrigues, Adv. Ms. Aditi Singhal, Adv. Mr. Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Sr. Adv. Mr. Gaurav Kumar, Adv. Mr. Shailendra Mani Tripathi, Adv. Mr. Naman Shresta, Adv. Ms. Pooja Shilpkar, Adv. Mr. Shourya Dasgupta, Adv. Mr. Smruthi Gangadharaiah, Adv. Mr. Priyendu Raghav Mishra, Adv. Mr. Mukesh Kumar, Adv. Mr. Himanshu Meena, Adv. Mr. Vishal Kumar, Adv. Mr. Sachin Hitkari- 4127, AOR Mr. Pulkit Agarwal- 2892, AOR Mr. Abhishek Sharma- 2061, AOR Mr. V. Elanchezhiyan- 2292, AOR Mr. Chand Qureshi- 3063, AOR Mr. Aakarshan Aditya- 2657, AOR Mr. Mahipal, Adv. Mr. Vibhu Tiwari, Adv. Mr. Tarurag Gaur, Adv. Dr. Menaka Guruswamy, Sr. Adv. Mr. Subhash Chandran K.R., AOR Mr. Anirudh K.P., Adv. Ms. Shaswati Parhi, Adv. Ms. Anmol Gupta, Adv. Ms. Bhumika Yadav, Adv. Ms. Anuka Bachawat, Adv. Mr. Ribhav Pande, Adv. Mr. Madhav Aggarwal, Adv. M/s Krs Associates, Adv. Ms. Vrinda Grover, Adv. Ms. Devika Tulsiani, Adv. Mr. Naman Kumar, Adv. Mr. Soutik Banerjee- 4281, AOR Mr. Sanjiv Narang- 3116, AOR Mr. N Hariharan, Sr. Adv. Ms. Ashima Mandla- 3671, AOR Ms. Mandakini Singh, Adv. Mr. Nipun Saxena, Adv. Mr. Arjan Singh Mandla, Adv. Ms. Vanshika Tewari, Adv. Mr. Narander Mishra, Adv. Ms. Aakanksha Tiwari, Adv. Ms. Preeti Chauhan, Adv. Mrs. Priyanka Dwivedi, Adv. Mr. Neeraj Shrivastava, Adv. Mr. Tilak Raj Passi, Adv. Mr. Gyanendra Kumar Pandey, Adv. Ms. Preeti Sirohi, Adv. Mr. Sudhanshu Tiwari, Adv. Mr. Awadhesh Kumar Dubey, Adv. Mr. Parimal Kumar Sarkar, Adv. Ms. Dipika Malhotra, Adv. Dr. Ashutosh Bansal, Adv. Mr. Shiv Sagar Tiwari- 1165, AOR Mr. Daksh Kadian, AOR Ms. Tanushree Bhalla, Adv. Mr. Mohsin Alam, Adv. Ms. Meenu Padha, Adv. Mr. Akash, Adv. Mr. Ashish Pandey, AOR Mr. Shiv Sagar Tiwari, AOR Mr. Rakesh Kumar, Adv. in Item 48 By Courts Motion Ms. Ashima Mandla- 3671, AOR
For Respondent(s) : Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General Mr. Suryaprakash V. Raju, A.S.G. Mr. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Ms. Astha Singh, Adv. Ms. Disha Thakkar, Adv. Mr. Bhuvan Kapoor, Adv. Mr. Annam Venkatesh, Adv. Ms. Sairica Raju, Adv. Mr. Madhav Sinhal, Adv. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Singh, Adv. Mr. Amrish Kumar-aor, Adv. Dr. Arun Kumar Yadav, Adv. Mr. B.L.N. Sanjit, Adv. Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma- 1133, AOR Mr. Azmat Hayat Amanullah- 2758, AOR Ms. Rebecca Mishra, Adv. Ms. Vanshita Gupta, Adv. Dr. N. Visakamurthy- 3411, AOR Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General Mr. Tarun Johri- 1213, AOR Mr. Ankur Gupta, Adv. Mr. Vishwajeet Tyagi, Adv. Mr. Akshay Verma- 2523, AOR Ms. Sushma Verma, Adv. Mr. Muneesh Sharma, Adv. Mr. Harish Pandey- 1715, AOR Mr. Ghanshyam Singh, Adv. Ms. Akansha- 4029, AOR Ms. Eliza Barr, Adv. Ms. Anjali Saxena, Adv. Mr. Govind Sharma, Adv. Mr. Saanil Patnayak, Adv. Mr. S.D. Sanjay, Advocate General Ms. Aditi Tripathi- 3192, AOR Mr. Udayan Sinha, Adv. Ms. Shravya Pathak, Adv. Mr. Shuvodeep Roy- 1672, AOR Mr. Saurabh Tripathi, Adv. Mr. Deepayan Dutta, Adv. Mr. S.D. Sanjay, Advocate General Mr. Akshay Amritanshu- 3121, AOR Mr. Sarthak Srivastava, Adv. Mr. Akshat Aggrawal, Adv. Mr. Utkarsh Rai, Adv. Mr. Atharve Tiwari, Adv. Mr. Abhay Anil Anturkar, Adv. Mr. Dhruv Tank, Adv. Mr. Sarthak Mehrotra, Adv. Ms. Surbhi Kapoor, AOR Mr. Uday Gautam, Adv. Ms. Aradhya Srivastava, Adv. Mr. Nakul Patwardhan, Adv. Mr. Ashwarya Sinha, A.A.G. Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Sr. Adv. Ms. Srishti Mishra- 3929, AOR Ms. Srishti Mishra, AOR Mr. Kumar Saurav, Adv. Mr. Aditya Malhotra, Adv. Mr. Sankalp Mahindru, Adv. Ms. Swati Ghildiyal- 3169, AOR Ms. Sonakshi Sinha, Adv. Mr. Alok Sangwan, Sr. A.A.G. Mr. Samar Vijay Singh, AOR Mr. Sumit Kumar Sharma, Adv. Mr. Rajat Sangwan, Adv. Mr. Vaibhav Yadav, Adv. Mr. Harsh Mehla, Adv. Ms. Sabarni Som, Adv. Mr. Sahil Chaudhary, Adv. Mr. Vipul Jain, Adv. Mr. Vikrant Malwal, Adv. Mr. Vaskar Saha, Adv. Mr. Anurag Pratyush Sahay- 4225, AOR Mr. Kartikeya Rastogi, D.A.G. Ms. Inderdeep Kaur Raina, Adv. Mr. Nishant Patil, A.A.G. Mr. Sanchit Garga- 2748, AOR Mr. Shashwat Jaiswal, Adv. Mr. Arijit Dey, Adv. Mr. Aljo K. Joseph, AOR Mr. Sashwat Mishra, Adv. Mr. Ajay M, Adv. Mr. Prashant Singh, Advocate General Mr. D.S. Parmar, A.A.G. Mr. Amit Sharma, A.A.G. Mr. Harmeet Singh Ruprah- 2308, AOR Mr. Karan Singh, Adv. Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Adv. Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande- 3259, AOR Mr. Shrirang B. Varma, Adv. Mr. Aditya Krishna, Adv. Ms. Sushmita Pandey, Adv. Ms. Arunima Das, Adv. Mr. Ashwin Arun Hirulkar, Adv. Ms. Kunika Bansal, Adv. Ms. Nupur Kumar- 3078, AOR Mr. Rajan Kumar Chourasia, Adv. Mr. S. Udaya Kumar Sagar- 1132, AOR Mr. Sameer Abhyankar- 2516, AOR Mr. Aryan Srivastava, Adv. Mr. Aakash Thakur, Adv. Ms. Yachna Sharma, Adv. Ms. Devina Sehgal, AOR Mr. Yatharth Kansal, Adv. Mr. Srikanth Varma Mudunuru, Adv. Ms. Ruchira Goel- 2477, AOR Mr. Nishant Awana- 4068, AOR Mr. Suraj Kundu, Adv. Mr. Bhavesh Yadav, Adv. Mr. Amogh Pandey, Adv. Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General Mr. Suryaprakash V. Raju, A.S.G. Mr. Varun Chugh, Adv. Mr. Krishna Kant Dubey, Adv. Ms. Archana Pathak Dave, A.S.G. Mr. Annam Venkatesh, Adv. Mr. Bhuvan Kapoor, Adv. Ms. Sairica Raju, Adv. Mr. Yashraj Singh Bundela, Adv. Ms. Astha Singh, Adv. Mr. Kamal Rattan Digpaul, Adv. Mr. Aman Mehta, Adv. Mr. Vikash Shukla, Adv. Mr. Yogya Rajpurohit, Adv. Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal- 909, AOR Mr. Aravindh S.- 2008, AOR Mr. Aadithya Aravindh, Adv. Ms. Anika Bansal, Adv. Mr. Vansh Malik, Adv. Mr. Rahul Gupta- 3619, AOR Mr. C. Solomon- 3705, AOR Mr. Sadashiv- 2364, AOR Mr. Mohd Shafat Ahamad, Adv. Mr. Mohd Arafat Ahmad, Adv. Mr. Prashant Andrew Leo, Adv. Mr. Manoj Pandey, Adv. Mr. Sunil Kumar, Adv. Ms. Vandana, Adv. Mr. Ashish Kumar Pandey, Adv. Ms. Mumtaz Javed Shaikh, Adv. Mr. Gautam Barnwal, Adv. Mr. Anilendra Pandey- 2501, AOR Mr. Animesh Shukla, Adv. Mr. Kamlesh Upadhyay, Adv. Mr. Nadeem Hussain, Adv. Ms. Aarati Sah, Adv. Mr. Amit Rawal, Sr. Adv. Ms. Riahika, Adv. Mr. Kunal Mittal, Adv. Ms. Anindita Mitra, AOR Ms. Jaispriya Popli, Adv. Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General Ms. Astha Singh- 3907, AOR Mr. Bhuvan Kapoor, Adv. Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General Ms. Astha Singh- 3907, AOR Mr. Bhuvan Kapoor, Adv. Ms. Ashima Mandla- 3671, AOR Mr. Sridhar Potaraju, Sr. Adv. Mr. Venkata Raghuvamsy D., AOR Ms. Chamundeswari P, Adv. Ms. Yashika Sharma, Adv. Mr. Shadan Farasat, Sr. Adv. Mr. Yashwant Singh- 3912, AOR Mr. Harshit Anand, Adv. Mr. Nazrul Islam, Adv. Mr. Dheeraj Kumar, Adv. Ms. Anushka Dasgupta, Adv. Mr. Ashwarya Sinha, A.A.G. Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Sr. Adv. Ms. Srishti Mishra- 3929, AOR Ms. Srishti Mishra, AOR Mr. Kumar Saurav, Adv. Mr. Aditya Malhotra, Adv. Mr. Sankalp Mahindru, Adv. Applicant-in-person Mr. Vivek Sharma- 3260, AOR Dr. Vijay Kumar Sharma, Adv. Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Sr. Adv. Mr. Prashant Bhushan, Adv. Ms. Neha Rathi- 2613, AOR Mr. Omar Hoda, Adv. Mr. Amit Bhandari, Adv. Ms. Cheryl D Souza, Adv. Ms. Kajal Giri, Adv. Ms. Somya Kumari, Adv. Ms. Niharika Rathi Chaturvedi, Adv. Mr. Prateek Yadav, Adv. Mr. Rishav Ranjan, Adv. Mr. Aman Prasad, Adv. Mr. Pratul, Adv. Mr. Parimal Wagh, Adv. Mr. Huzaifa, Adv. Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande- 3259, AOR Mr. Shuvodeep Roy- 1672, AOR Mr. Saurabh Tripathi, Adv. Mr. Deepayan Dutta, Adv. Mr. Nishant Awana- 4068, AOR Mr. Suraj Kundu, Adv. Mr. Bhavesh Yadav, Adv. Mr. Amogh Pandey, Adv. Mr. Azmat Hayat Amanullah- 2758, AOR Ms. Rebecca Mishra, Adv. Ms. Vanshita Gupta, Adv. Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AOR Mr. Z.H. Isaac Haiding, Adv. Mr. Daniel Stone Lyngdoh, Adv. Ms. Marbiang Khongwir, Adv. Mr. Vinayak Sharma, Adv. Mr. Harish Pandey, Adv. Mr. Ghanshyam Singh, Adv. Mr. Pawan Kumar Saxena, Adv. Mr. Charan Dass, Adv. Mr. Ravi Bhushan Pandey, Adv. Mr. Jasveer Rana, Adv.

UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following

[NyayVidhan note: this order is recorded in the record of proceedings; there is no separate signed order. Paragraphs 1-10 carry the Court's numbers. The cause title, the interlocutory applications and the connected matters (Items 41 and 48) are given as printed, one line per item; the lists of counsel are given on one line for each side. The digital-signature block (dated 10.11.2026) and page numbers are left out. The order's own wording is kept as printed.]

[Source: Supreme Court of India, www.sci.gov.in — order dated 5 November 2026.]

O R D E R

1. The High Powered Enquiry Committee (“HPEC”) has submitted an Action Taken Report dated 31.10.2026, which has been opened and perused. According to the Report, the HPEC decided at its first meeting, held on 01.09.2026, to create an online portal for receiving complaints. The portal has been developed by the National Informatics Centre with the support of the Ministry of Home Affairs, and was launched at hpec.nic.in on 13.10.2026.

2. It has been stated that complaints filed confidentially on the portal are accessible only to the Chairperson and the Members of the HPEC. It has further been stated that complaints can also be filed anonymously, without disclosing the complainant's name, phone number, address, or Aadhaar details. The portal also provides separate windows and templates for affected protestors and for affected police personnel.

3. Pursuantly, a bilingual public notice was published on 14.10.2026 in 149 newspaper editions across India. It provided for submissions through the portal, by post, by e-mail, or physically at the office of the HPEC at Shiksha Sadan, 17, Rouse Avenue, New Delhi, between 1400 hrs and 1600 hrs on working days.

4. The Report further states that, since there was “hardly any response”, a press release was issued on 17.10.2026 through print and electronic media, and a scroll was added to the portal from 21.10.2026 reiterating the alternative modes of submission.

5. However, despite these efforts, only a few complaints have been received on the portal, and none by e-mail, post or physical delivery. It is also evident from the Report that the HPEC has not yet returned any findings on the issues referred to it.

6. In light of the report, we have impressed upon learned Counsel/Senior Counsel for the parties that there is no requirement of disclosing the name or identity of any complainant or victim. Let the parties forward the entire material in their possession to the HPEC, whether through the portal, by e-mail, or physically, as they may deem appropriate, so that the HPEC may consider the same. Such material may include copies of the writ petitions and affidavits filed before this Court, and the video clips or other material appended thereto. The material shall be received and dealt with by the HPEC subject to the confidentiality safeguards directed by this Court in its order dated 10.09.2026.

7. We clarify that the material and information so forwarded by the parties on behalf of the victims shall also be examined and considered by the HPEC.

8. The Member Secretary of the HPEC has, by a separate Memo dated 31.10.2026, placed on record the resignation of Dr. L.R. Bishnoi, Former Director General of Police, Meghalaya, who was appointed as a Member of the HPEC vide our order dated 18.08.2026. For the reasons stated in his letter dated 27.10.2026, the resignation is accepted, and Dr. Bishnoi stands relieved from the membership of the HPEC.

9. The Union of India and the Delhi Police may file their respective counter affidavits within three weeks. Wherever the issues are common, a single comprehensive counter affidavit may be filed, and the same shall be circulated through the learned Nodal Officers.

10. List on 02.12.2026.

(NITIN TALREJA) ASTT. REGISTRAR-cum-PS
(PREETHI DILEEP KUMAR) DY. REGISTRAR