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Delhi HC asks police to submit status report on vandalism at CM's residence:'You’ll have to explain...'
A bench of acting chief justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Navin Chawla was hearing the plea filed by AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj seeking the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for a fair and time-bound investigation into the vandalism incident.
The Delhi high court on Friday directed the police to submit a status report on the investigation into the vandalisation outside chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence. After perusing a video of the incident, the court observed that the security was inadequate outside the chief minister's residence and an element of threat was created.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Navin Chawla was hearing the plea filed by AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj seeking the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for a fair and time-bound investigation into the vandalism incident.
"It was an unruly crowd. We have seen the video. Some people tried to climb over the gate. They did not succeed. Probably it was not there intent also. Some of those in crowd have taken law and order in their hand. And there’s definitely an element of fear which has been sought to be created, that is evident. The police force was probably inadequate, you'll have to answer that...At least those who were there, they were trying to prevent it. Probably they were outnumbered. You’ll have to explain what kind of intimation you’d and what kind of threat perception was there about this kind of incident taking place " the court said.
The court said that the report should be filed within two weeks.
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Additional solicitor general Sanjay Jain, appearing for the Delhi police, opposed the issuance of notice saying the petition should not have been filed within 24 hours of the incident. He termed the petition a "publicity stunt" as the copy of the plea was all over the media even before it was served to them. The additional solicitor general submitted that the petition proceeds on a false presumption that no FIR is filed.
Jain informed the court that a suo motu FIR was registered by Delhi Police in the matter and that no complaint was made by the chief minister’s office in this regard.
He also questioned the locus of Bhardwaj, arguing that the AAP MLA was neither an aggrieved party nor present at the scene.
To this, the court said, "Any citizen, political or not could have filed this. This is a constitutional functionary we are talking about. He is the CM", adding that the police will have to explain its security "bandobast".
When the ASG said that the issuance of notice would give a wrong message, the court remarked, "Mr Jain, if you are so sensitive to issuing notice, we will say you appear on advance notice. We are only seeking basic details".
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for AAP, submitted before the two-judge bench that CCTV footage of the incident should be preserved. Citing the order of the Supreme Court in the Prime Minister’s security breach matter, Singhvi said they are seeking a similar SIT probe into this incident.
"This person (Delhi CM) enjoys Z-level security. Now they are here offering that Delhi Police, which was in charge of his security, will hold a meeting for future, " he submitted, insisting that they only have recourse to constitutional courts.
The DCP North Delhi told the court that they would preserve the security camera footage from outside the CM's residence as well as the Arterial roads around the residence.
On Wednesday, the protestors, led by BJP Yuva Morcha's national president and MP Tejasvi Surya, were holding a demonstration against Kejriwal's remarks on the controversial film 'The Kashmir Files', which is based on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley during the peak of insurgency. Some of the protestors breached two barricades and reached outside CM House where they created a ruckus and shouted slogans, the police had said. Videos from the incident showed that a boom barrier arm and a CCTV camera were vandalised.
