Apologising to the top court over alleged violation of the apex court’s direction to ensure no “complete prohibition” on Metro and train services in Delhi, the Government on Thursday justified the restrictions imposed on October 10 in parts of the Capital in the wake of a protest call by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).
Offering an unconditional apology, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan and Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar justified their decisions to suspend mobile internet services in parts of central Delhi and deny permission to hold a protest at Jantar Mantar on October 10.
The Commissioner of Police told the court that timely, proportionate, and lawful police measures helped avert a major public order situation during the recent protests in the national capital.
The commissioner further stated that preventive measures were based on intelligence inputs and an assessment of the prevailing and ever-changing ground situation. In an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court, Mohan Mohan denied that the Centre wilfully disobeyed the court’s directions, saying Delhi Police requested a one-day suspension of cellular internet services until 10 pm on October 10.
“The request was duly processed and considered in accordance with law and was found to be a proportionate measure, having regard to the magnitude of the situation and the need to prevent any disturbance of public order in the national capital,” Mohan said. The home secretary said cellular internet services were suspended from 10 pm on October 9 to 10 pm on October 10 within a 4 km radius of Raisina Hill.
He clarified that the suspension applied only to cellular internet services and did not extend to non-cellular internet services or telecommunication services such as Wi-Fi or broadband.
“I state and submit that the suspension of internet services for a limited period and within a defined geographical area, subject to the applicable statutory safeguards, is a recognised measure that may be considered for maintaining public order in appropriate circumstances,” he said.
“I therefore respectfully pray that this court may be pleased to modify its order dated October 11 to the extent necessary to permit the suspension of internet services in situations of necessity, strictly in accordance with law and subject to the applicable statutory requirements and safeguards,” he said.
In an affidavit, the Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar stated that the permission for the October 10 CJP protest at Jantar Mantar was denied due to experience of large-scale violence during its July 20 protests, inability of organisers to control supporters and the grave inconvenience caused to the general public because of a string of protests from October 6-8 that choked central Delhi for days together.
The commissioner said Narrating the sensitivity of central Delhi housing Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament, Supreme Court, embassies and other institutions requiring a complex security arrangement as well as measures for maintaining public order, the police commissioner said, “No police administration can permit any breach of public order in the national capital, particularly when a call is given by an organisation with a recent history of mob violence, and incidents resulting in injuries to several individuals and the subsequent events of October 6, 7, 8.”
Due to all these marches, the central Delhi areas got completely choked, and there were huge traffic snarls for long hours, resulting in students and innocent citizens getting stuck in traffic jams, resulting in them missing their trains, airlines, etc.,” he said.
The gatherings were very aggressive, fuelled by persons adopting the cover of ‘freelance journalism’, who were physically harassing policemen; some miscreants were misbehaving with lady police personnel, resulting in injuries to over a dozen police personnel,” he said on the October 10 protest which was called despite denial of permission and attempts to gather people illegally.
As per the SC-laid-down law, the Police removed the illegally gathered people from the site where prohibitory orders were in place. Still, those detained punctured the tyres of the buses in which they were kept and broke window shields in acts of violence, the commissioner said.