FIR against BJP’s Manoj Tiwari for breaking lock of sealed house in Gokulpur

Hours after the case was filed, Manoj Tiwari visited the same neighbourhood and again tried to break the seal, terming the corporation’s action “illegal”.

The Delhi Police on Tuesday lodged an FIR against Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Manoj Tiwari for breaking the lock of a house sealed by the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) in northeast Delhi’s Gokulpur on Sunday. Hours after the case was filed, Tiwari visited the same neighbourhood and again tried to break the seal, terming the corporation’s action “illegal”.

Police try to stop BJP leader Manoj Tiwari as he attempts to break the seal of a property sealed by MCD in Gokulpur area in east Delhi on Tuesday. (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)

The property in question had been sealed by the EDMC on Friday for allegedly running an illegal dairy from the premises. Following the FIR, the monitoring committee, appointed by the Supreme Court to identify and seal buildings that violate land use norms, submitted a report in the apex court about the incident.

KJ Rao, a monitoring committee member said, “Although sealing was not carried on our directions, but breaking a seal is an unlawful act. As soon as the issue was highlighted, we demanded a report from the EDMC on Monday. We have submitted a detailed report in court.”

Based on the complaint from the deputy director (veterinary) Shahadra, north zone, an FIR was registered against Tiwari by the Delhi Police under the Indian Penal Code’s Section 188 and relevant provisions of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, a police officer familiar with the matter said. The IPC section pertains to disobedience to an order promulgated by a public servant and punishment under it can be for a maximum term of six months in prison and a fine.

To maintain law and order and prevent Tiwari and his supporters from breaking the seal again on Tuesday, the police deployed around 700 personnel in the area. They said Tiwari had brought at least 350 supporters with him.

A senior EDMC official said, “Tiwari arrived in the area on Tuesday afternoon for his anti-sealing campaign. He was accompanied by more than 350 party supporters, but he left after addressing the crowd.”

The EDMC’s newly appointed deputy commissioner Sanjeev Kumar was also present on the spot. The property had been sealed by the EDMC for being allegedly used as a “dairy” in violation of the Delhi Master Plan, said a senior EDMC official.

Calling the sealing action “illegal”, Tiwari visited the area on Sunday and broke the seal of the property. “A day after the incident we lodged a complaint at Gokulpur police station attaching report and video,” said the official involved in the preliminary investigation of the case.

Following Sunday’s incident, the house was sealed by the MCD again, officials said.

“There was no illegal dairy running in the house and the owner had kept a ‘cow’ and a ‘buffalo’ for personal use. Moreover the residential complex falls under the Lal Dora village and no sealing action can be carried out here. The officials are harassing people in the name of the monitoring committee. I will not allow ‘pick-and-choose’ sealing,” Tiwari said on Tuesday.

MCD official said that the action against the property had been taken after receiving a complaint by the department. “In fact on Tuesday, we sealed three other properties in same neighbourhood which were running illegal dairies,” said the EDMC official.