Security beefed up outside CM’S residence, Delhi Police tells HC on vandalism matter
NEW DELHI: The city police on Tuesday informed the Delhi High Court that security outside Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence, where an incident of vandalism occurred in March, has been beefed up with the deployment of additional armed guards.
The police said the proposal to curtail entry on the road where the chief minister’s residence is located is also under consideration and discussions are on with the residents welfare associations (RWA).
The court was informed by the counsel for police that the status report is under preparation and sought some time to file it on record.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Navin Chawla granted time to the police to file the status report and said it shall be filed positively before the next date, that is, May 30. The Delhi government standing counsel (criminal) Sanjay Lau submitted that the status report of Delhi Police was under preparation and it could not be filed as Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain was not available.
He further said more police personnel have been deployed outside the CM’S house and they were talking with RWAS to install two gates on both sides of the road and that no assembly or protests will be allowed near the Civil Lines metro station.
The court was hearing a plea by AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj about the March 30 attack during a protest against Kejriwal’s remarks on ‘The Kashmir Files’, a film on the plight of Kashmiri Pandits.
Scores of protesters belonging to the Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the BJP, had allegedly breached the barricades to reach the entrance of the chief minister’s residence and destroyed public property in the presence of police.
Senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the petitioner, urged the court to direct the police to provide them a copy of the report so that they are able to assist the court properly.
To this, the bench said, “first let us see it. If we feel it is something to be shared with you, we will.” Senior advocate Rahul Mehra, also representing the petitioner, suggested that the authorities can consider imposing section 144 of CRPC in the area around the CM house like Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Earlier, the high court had termed it a “very disturbing state of affairs” and voiced displeasure over the “failure” of police to prevent the incident of vandalism at the CM’S and directed the city police commissioner to fix responsibility for the “serious lapse”.