Contempt plea against top cop for delay in FIR

Bachpan Bachao Andolan, an NGO working for the cause of children, on Friday moved the Supreme Court seeking contempt action against the Delhi Police Commissioner over the delay in lodging an FIR after the five-year-old rape victim went missing.

Bachpan Bachao Andolan, an NGO working for the cause of children, on Friday moved the Supreme Court seeking contempt action against the Delhi Police Commissioner over the delay in lodging an FIR after the five-year-old rape victim went missing.

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The NGO said the delay amounted to violation of an SC order directing the police to promptly lodge cases of missing children. The PIL was mentioned before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir and will be heard on Monday.

The NGO sought initiation of contempt proceedings against Delhi Police chief Neeraj Kumar, deputy commissioner of police of east Delhi Prabhakar and other officials of Gandhi Nagar Police Station alleging they have “deliberately violated the law and the January 17 order of the apex court”.

The petition alleged that the “inaction of police shows their total non-seriousness about the issue” and such “laxity and slow response is deliberate” on the agency’s part.

The SC had on January 17 directed that the police must register an FIR and conduct probe in every case of missing child and a unit of specially trained police officers be formed in each district to handle cases relating to juveniles.

The court had also said that appropriate steps must be taken to see that follow-up investigation is taken up immediately after the FIR is lodged.

Had the Delhi Police been “vigilant and acted with promptness”, the gruesome incident of rape could have been averted, the petition stated.