500 Delhi cops gather at headquarters over police vs lawyers row

NEW DELHI: Around 500 Delhi Police personnel, including an assistant commissioner of police (ACP) and a station house officer (SHO) transferred after a face-off with lawyers in east Delhi’s Shahdara, protested outside police headquarters on Monday, demanding action against the lawyers involved and safeguards against alleged intimidation at police stations and courtrooms

NEW DELHI: Around 500 Delhi Police personnel, including an assistant commissioner of police (ACP) and a station house officer (SHO) transferred after a face-off with lawyers in east Delhi’s Shahdara, protested outside police headquarters on Monday, demanding action against the lawyers involved and safeguards against alleged intimidation at police stations and courtrooms.

The protest, led by ACP Manasvi Vashishta, continued for over 10 hours (Sanchit Khanna/ HT)

The protest, led by ACP Manasvi Vashishta, continued for over 10 hours, with a delegation meeting senior officers, including Delhi Police commissioner Anurag Kumar, twice during the day.

Late in the night, Vashishta said that senior officers had assured him that his transfer order “would be looked into” and that no action would be taken against those who participated in the protest. He termed the gathering a “success”.

“Our main agenda was never to protest but to hold a Sampark Sabha and share our issues with the commissioner and senior officials and since that happened, it’s a success,” Vashishta said.

He said he and four other officers met joint commissioner of police Nupur Prasad in the evening, when they were told that his transfer order would be examined. The officers were also assured that legal action against those named in the FIR he had registered would be considered, he said.

The protesting personnel submitted five demands, including that the FIR registered on Vashishta’s complaint against lawyers should not be quashed, that a grievance redressal committee be set up, and that standard operating procedures be framed to deal with confrontations involving lawyers. They also sought restrictions on the number of lawyers entering a police officer’s office at one time, and security for police personnel inside courtrooms.

“Our demands are clear. There needs to be an SOP to deal with such matters. If this happens to us, how will we fight to save the people of the city?” Vashishta said, adding that the FIR registered on his complaint should be investigated.

The protest was the first by Delhi Police personnel outside headquarters on Jai Singh Road since November 2019, when thousands of officers and their family members held an hours-long demonstration following successive clashes with lawyers, including at Tis Hazari courts.

Assistant sub-inspector Jyoti, who participated in the gathering, said officers had told the commissioner about alleged threats from lawyers. “They want everything done their way and want us to go against the right course of action if it doesn’t suit them,” she said.

The latest confrontation stems from an altercation between lawyers and police in Shahdara on October 23, in which an advocate suffered a head injury. An FIR was registered at Shahdara police station following a complaint by advocate Amulya Ratan.

Lawyers alleged that the ACP and SHO, Arun Kumar, threatened advocates who visited the police station seeking action against the accused, and that Vashishta took out his service pistol during the confrontation. Vashishta denied the allegation, saying he was only “counting the rounds” in his pistol before returning it to his staff.

According to local bar association members, several lawyers visited the police station on October 23 demanding the immediate arrest of suspects present at the station. Advocates alleged that despite verbal assurances from the ACP and SHO, the suspects were released without arrest the following day, sparking an indefinite strike by lawyers that ended only after the two police officers were transferred last week.