A day after an alleged attack outside the residence of Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal during a protest against his remarks on 'The Kashmir Files' film, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), legislator Saurabh Bhardwaj approached the Delhi High Court seeking constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for a fair and time-bound investigation into the incident.
The petition, which has also sought directions to Delhi Police and the Ministry of Home Affairs for ensuring the security of the Chief Minister and his residence in future, is likely to be listed for hearing on Friday.
Bhardwaj, in his petition through advocate Bharat Gupta, alleged that the attack and vandalisation of the official residence of the Chief Minister appears to have been carried out with Delhi Police's tacit complicity. “On March 30, 2022, several BJP goons, in the garb of a protest, launched an attack on the official residence of the Delhi CM. Videos and photographs show that these goons casually walked through the security cordon (maintained by Delhi Police), kicked and broke the boom barrier, broke the CCTVs cameras with lathis, threw paint on the gate of the residence and almost climbed over the gate, while Delhi Police personnel simply looked on, doing little to stop the protestors,” the plea alleged.
The MLA said while he strongly supports the right to protest peacefully, even if such protest is against the Delhi Government, violence cannot and ought not to be permitted and condoned.
“In this case, the violence was especially egregious as it was directed towards the Delhi CM and his family. It was meant to subdue, by the use of force, the highest elected official in the NCT of Delhi and, therefore, the elected Government of Delhi. This was a direct attack on democracy,” the plea said.
It added that those who were charged with the protection of the Delhi CM, that is, Delhi Police, completely abdicated their duty, without any regard for the fact that they were protecting an elected constitutional functionary and the fact that he was given Z+ security by Delhi Police itself.
It said the police's inaction was in blatant violation of the High Court's August 22, 2017 order wherein the Delhi Police was directed to ensure that no unnecessary protest takes place on the road in front of the Delhi CM's house as it is a residential area.
“In light of this, the petitioner is constrained to directly approach this court seeking (a) constitution of an SIT headed by a retired Judge of this court to undertake an independent, fair and time-bound criminal investigation into the attack, including the role of Delhi Police officers who were responsible for maintaining the security cordon outside the Delhi CM's residence; (b) directions for appropriate prosecution/action against the identified accused persons/culprits; and (c) direction to the respondents to ensure appropriate security of the Chief Minister of Delhi's person and his residence in future,” it said.