Culpable or incompetent: Shah must go, says Cong; seeks SC probe into 20 July firing

Four days after Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned following sustained student protests over paper leaks, the Congress on Wednesday stepped up its attack on the Centre, demanding the resignation of Union home minister Amit Shah over the use of pellet guns, nail-fitted lathis and electric batons against youth protesters during the 20 July demonstrations in Delhi.

Calling Shah either "culpable or incompetent", Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said the home minister must step down in either case. The Congress also demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the firing and the alleged use of excessive force against the protesters.

"If Amit Shah does not resign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi should sack him," the party demanded.

Addressing a press conference at the Congress headquarters in Delhi, Gandhi alleged that Shah was fully aware of the developments during the protest. "I saw Amit Shah calling Jitendra Singh. That means he knew what was happening. He has not come to Parliament because he is guilty," he said.

His remarks came hours after he was not allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha amid repeated disruptions. The Congress said Rahul's microphone was switched off after treasury bench members protested and demanded his apology for his remarks on Shah. The party has maintained that Shah is 'guilty' of ordering the use of pellet guns against the protesters.

Reiterating his charge, Gandhi said there were only two possibilities. "Either home minister Amit Shah gave the order to use pellet guns, beat people with lathis and use electric batons, or he did not know what was happening. If he did not know, that amounts to incompetence. In either case, he needs to go," he said.

Describing the police action as the most serious issue facing the country, Gandhi said, "To me, the most important issue today is that our students were brutalised on the streets of Delhi. They were shot with pellet guns. There were also shock batons — not ordinary lathis, but batons fitted with nails. Facial recognition is being used against them. The Bajrang Dal is being mobilised to intimidate them so that they do not raise their voices again."

Notably, both the Rapid Action Force (RAF), which has admitted that pellet guns were fired, and Delhi Police, which carried out the lathi charge, function under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs headed by Shah.

RAF personnel in their distinctive blue camouflage uniforms were deployed alongside Delhi Police during the 20 July protest. The RAF and CRPF have not confirmed the use of plastic pellets during the protest. However, at least three protesters are reported to have sustained pellet injuries.

Rahul Gandhi and Congress general-secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited the injured students at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. Rahul also addressed the media alongside a student protester who suffered an eye injury after being hit by a pellet and has since lost vision in that eye.

Stressing the need for accountability, Gandhi said he had sought to raise the issue in Parliament but was prevented from doing so. "I wanted to raise this issue in the House, but I was not allowed to speak. I was told that if I apologised for my comments on Amit Shah, I would be allowed to speak. I said I cannot apologise for speaking the truth. The Opposition guarantees the students that there will be accountability," he said.

On 25 July, Gandhi had written to Shah asking whether he had ordered the use of lethal force against protesters and who the people in plain clothes were who beat up students with batons. “Forget the reply — even an acknowledgement has not come," he said.

Hundreds of protesters injured on 20 July were admitted to hospitals across Delhi, but government hospitals refused to disclose the number of those treated.

Though Delhi Police initially denied the use of pellet guns, a general diary entry recorded at Parliament Street police station contradicts the claim. According to the entry, recorded at 1.24 am on 22 July, a deputy commander of the RAF informed the police that, acting on the instructions of a deputy commissioner of police, he had used 55 non-electric shells, 15 electric shells, five tear-gas grenades and fired two rounds of plastic pellets from an anti-riot gun during the protest.

"We will ensure that the students who were beaten get justice and that those who shot our students with pellet guns are punished," Gandhi said.

On the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 that was passed with the voice vote, he said, “The Bill is not worth discussing. The students are saying the education system is not working. Papers are getting leaked. They are going through immense pain. And the Modi government's response is that they will increase the punishment from one year to ten years. The Bill says it accepts paper leaks and will merely punish those responsible.”