The Union government on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking to quash all first information reports filed in connection with the youth protests in Delhi in July, Bar and Bench reported.The application urged the court to quash the 13 FIRs registered for offences including rioting, attempt to murder, robbery and damage to public property, using its special powers under Article 142 of the Constitution. Article 142 empowers the Supreme Court to pass orders necessary to ensure “complete justice” in any matter before it.It also sought permission for the Delhi Police to register a fresh FIR against 2,873 persons with serious criminal records who were present at the protest site, the legal news outlet reported.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta mentioned the matter before Chief Justice Surya Kant and sought an urgent listing for Tuesday, Live Law reported.The government assured the court that no fresh FIR will be filed in connection with the incidents mentioned in the application. It also said that if any similar FIR is filed later, the authorities will not oppose its quashing.This comes ahead of the Cockroach Janta Party’s call for a peaceful march from India Gate to the Delhi Police headquarters on Saturday. The political campaign had spearheaded the protests against alleged mismanagement of several competitive examinations.The Cockroach Janta Party said that the Union government had failed to “honour its July 25 commitments” that led the campaign to call off its protest at Jantar Mantar. One of the demands was that “no punitive action would be taken against any protester, either now or in the future” in any state ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party or its National Democratic Alliance.The protests began on June 6, when the Cockroach Janta Party held a demonstration at Jantar Mantar demanding the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, the Union education minister at the time.On July 20, thousands joined the protest. This came two days after the police forcibly took activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike for three weeks, to hospital.The protesters’ march to Parliament was met with a crackdown by police. Dozens were injured as the police used lathis and fired tear gas shells and pellet guns at the demonstrators. The police action turbocharged the agitation, which spread to other parts of the country. Pradhan resigned as the education minister on July 25.After his resignation, the political campaign called off the protests.On August 24, the political campaign said that instead of implementing what was promised to the protesters, the government had “played delay games, hidden behind technicalities and avoided giving clear commitments even before the Supreme Court”.It said that the Supreme Court had asked the Union government to provide a list of first information reports registered across the country “so that the court could consider quashing them together…making the commitment easier to fulfil”.But the government “refused to give a clear commitment to do so”, the campaign said.On August 18, the Supreme Court said it would use its powers under Article 142 to quash FIRs in which only students had been named.The court had also asked the Union government to provide a list of FIRs registered against students across the country. The bench said that cases involving persons with serious criminal antecedents would be considered separately.Edited by Nachiket Deuskar.