R-Day violence: Delhi HC junks plea seeking punishment for police officials
Darpan News Desk IANS, 12 Nov, 2021 11:24 AM
New Delhi, Nov 12 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed a petition seeking removal of the then Delhi Police Commissioner S N Srivastava from his post and punishment for police officials who allegedly failed to discharge their duty during the farmers' tractor rally in the national capital on January 26 (Republic Day).
A bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Jyoti Singh 'dismissed for default' the plea filed by petitioner Dhananjai Jain, as nobody from the petitioner's side appeared in the matter.
In his plea, the petitioner sought the removal of Srivastava, who later retired, and punishment to all the police officers as the government and police 'completely failed' in maintaining law and order in an 'effective manner.'
The plea had been filed a day after farmers breached barricading and clashed with police in protest against the three new farm laws.
The petitioner further contended that the police personnel posted at the Red Fort were left abandoned due to a lack of timely decision-making by the Police Commissioner.
"Maintaining law and order is the prime responsibility of Delhi Police which is under the direct control of the Union Home Ministry, but both have miserably failed in the discharge of that duty," it alleged.
He also sought immediate removal of people squatting under the garb of the farmers' agitation and clearance of all roads and public places.
A request for adequate paramilitary forces to be deployed to protect monuments, life, and property of citizens was also made by the petitioner.
On January 26, farmers swarmed the Red Fort and waved farmer union flags on its ramparts. They even hoisted a pennant with a Sikh religious symbol from a flagpole.
The joint call to action comes from non-attainment cities like Ludhiana, Amritsar, Khanna, Patiala and others reeling under poor air quality, and not just during winters.
In his address in the Assembly's special session to mark the commemoration of 400th Prakash Purb of Guru Tegh Bahadur, he stressed that the Sikh faith is distinguished by the tradition of martyrdom to uphold principles and righteousness given to "us by our great Gurus".
A total of 40.8 per cent people have shown satisfaction with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the five states going to the polls next year, while 41.3 per cent showed dissatisfaction with him, as per the ABP-CVOTER-IANS BATTLE FOR THE STATES - WAVE 1.
According to the ABP-CVOTER-IANS BATTLE FOR THE STATES - WAVE 1, the goodwill of the Union government remains the same except in Punjab, which is up against the Centre over the three farm laws.
The survey found that overall, 13.3 per cent said the 'country is moving forward but not my life', 29.3 per cent said the 'country is moving forward and my life too', while 5 per cent said that 'life is improving but the country is in poor state'.
A day earlier, Customs officials had recovered 495 grams of gold valued at Rs 24.14 lakh from a passenger on his arrival from Dubai. The gold was concealed in various items like a blender, facial cream box, and sandals. A case for smuggling of gold was registered. Further investigation is in progress, an official said.
