New Delhi, January 31
The Supreme Court today gave a clean chit to the Delhi police for its handling of the recent dharna staged by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Cabinet colleagues near Parliament in protest against alleged police inaction in checking crime in the city.
Accepting the explanation given by the police for letting Kejriwal and others to stage the sit-in protest, a Bench comprising Justices RM Lodha and Shiva Kirti Singh remarked that the police had balanced its duty to disperse the demonstrators, who had gathered in violation of the prohibitory orders, and protect the fundamental rights of people.
"Do you mean there must have been shoot-at-sight orders or a very severe coercive action by the police? It is not done," the Bench told PIL petititioner, advocate N Rajaraman, who complained of inept handling of the situation by the police.
Appearing for the city police, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sidharth Luthra told the court that the police was very cautious in dealing with the situation, but nevertheless had taken prompt steps to ensure normalcy in the area ahead of the Republic Day parade.
Besides clamping prohibitory orders on the area to prevent the dharna, the police had deployed adequate security personnel. But Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues managed to gather in the area along with about 150 supporters as the police could not notice the persons sitting inside cars accompanying the CM.
"The police have acted reasonably and were not lax in their duty" as contended by the petitioner, the Bench remarked. The right of individuals and the obligation of the state had to be balanced in a democracy. People’s rights could not be jettisoned. Just because some persons felt that police could have acted in a different manner did not mean what the security agency did was wrong, it explained while disposing of the PIL.
Source Link: http://www.tribuneindia.com
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