Overview
- The student-led Cockroach Janta Party suspended nationwide protests after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned, a development confirmed on July 25 and cited by multiple outlets.
- A three-judge Supreme Court bench ordered immediate release of detained students aged 18 and below who have no criminal antecedents but explicitly permitted police and prosecutors to continue investigations in existing FIRs.
- CJP leaders say the central government gave verbal assurances on July 25 that FIRs against peaceful protesters would be withdrawn and have urged written confirmation, warning they will resume mass demonstrations if those assurances are not produced.
- Parliament on July 29 passed the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill by voice vote, raising maximum jail terms and fines for paper leaks and imposing a two-month investigation deadline in some cases.
- The protests have reshaped political debate, driven state-level variation in handling FIRs (for example, some states have withdrawn cases), spawned fast-growing online campaigns such as Reservation Hatao Andolan, and left thousands of students facing legal uncertainty and possible harassment.