E-Paper
Police not above law, should lead by example: Delhi HC
New Delhi: Police officials are not above law and they should lead as an example for the society, the Delhi high court on Wednesday said while directing the city police to take action against those officials who are not wearing helmets riding a two-wheeler
New Delhi: Police officials are not above law and they should lead as an example for the society, the Delhi high court on Wednesday said while directing the city police to take action against those officials who are not wearing helmets riding a two-wheeler.
A bench of acting chief justice Vipin Sanghi and justice Sachin Datta also said that action should be taken against those officials who are not wearing masks as they are also bound to follow Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) guidelines on COVID-19 as any other citizen.
“Police officers are equally bound by directions issued by DDMA, as any other citizen. We are of the view that they should lead by example,” the bench said. It directed the Delhi Police to take appropriate action against those officials who are found violating the norms of masks and also the Motor Vehicles Act by riding their vehicles without helmets and added that the action be taken within six weeks.
Seeking to know as to what action has been taken against the erring police official, the bench asked, “Have you challaned them? You are challaning people, are these officers above the law? You have to lead by example.”
The court’s order comes while hearing a plea by an advocate seeking direction to take necessary legal action against Delhi police officials for violating the COVID-19 guidelines on duty themselves and for not implementing COVID-19 guidelines in society even after many orders passed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and DDMA.
Lawyer-petitioner Shalen Bhardwaj had challenged the order of the single judge which had dismissed his petition.
The trigger to filing the petition was that in the wee hours of August 9, 2021, two police personnel posted at Sadar Bazar police station were without masks and helmets during patrolling on a government bike and they allegedly misbehaved with Bhardwaj and his relative and used derogatory words.
In the appeal, he pointed out that about 30 police officials were found without masks but no action was taken against them for violation of DDMA directions.
The counsel representing the police admitted that several police officials were found violating the law and had been admonished and that an inquiry was conducted based on the petitioner’s complaint.
He said it was found that several police officials were not wearing masks during duty at their workplace and helmets while driving two-wheelers.
The single judge had earlier said the obligation to ensure compliance with COVID protocols must be adhered to even “more strictly” by those who are charged with its enforcement and must lead by example.
