No unmanned barricades will be put up: Delhi cops to HC

The police told the court that disciplinary action has been initiated in 51 cases against the concerned staff/station house officer

New Delhi The Delhi Police have told the Delhi high court that it is conducting periodic checks across the national capital to ensure that no barricade remains unmanned, adding that it will make all possible endeavours to keep all the barricades manned.

On September 5 last year, the police told the court that no unmanned barricades will be left on the streets, and people can report against any such barrier at a helpline number or tag police on Twitter for immediate action. (HT Archive)

The police, in a status report filed before a bench of chief justice Satish Chandra Sharma and justice Subramonium Prasad on January 9, told the court that disciplinary action has been initiated in 51 cases against the concerned staff/station house officer.

It stated that barricades have been put up at 773 locations by Delhi Police, of which 714 are manned by Delhi Police personnel, while the remaining 59 are manned by the staff of the respective RWAs.

The police said a standing order was also issued on March 31, 2022 to ensure that the barricades put up by the Delhi Police or by the RWAs shall always remain manned, and under no circumstances it shall remain unmanned.

Isha Pandey, deputy commissioner of police (southeast), assured the court that periodic checks are being carried out throughout Delhi to ensure that no barricade remains unmanned.

Noting the contents of the status report and the assurance of the DCP, the bench disposed of a suo moto petition on the alleged menace caused due to unmanned barricades in the city.

On December 10, 2021, Om Prakash Goel, claiming to be the president of the Delhi Pradeshik Aggarwal Sammelan, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the misery caused to the people due to blockades by unmanned barricades. The letter, in turn, reached the high court, which converted it into a public interest litigation (PIL), stating that the matter needs “consideration”.

In his letter, Goel mentioned places such as Kalkaji, Gandhi Nagar and CR Park areas where traffic snarls were reported due to unmanned barricades.

On September 5 last year, the police told the court that no unmanned barricades will be left on the streets, and people can report against any such barrier at a helpline number or tag police on Twitter for immediate action.

The police submitted that the area traffic inspector will brief his staff that all unmanned or unattended obstructive barricades in their respective duty need to be immediately removed from roads/footpaths. They added that under the new guidelines, it has been underlined that no barricades will be put on roads during peak hours unless there is specific input or information regarding law and order or crime detection under the order of a senior officer of DCP rank.

The police had also instructed its officials that while giving approval to barricaded checking, the district DCP would consider that checking be allowed during peak hours only in case of exigency.