Delhi Police on Friday again refused to share details of the farmer’s suicide case with the District Magistrate citing legal issues. Reiterating their stand, the police also said that if DM wants to take action against them, he must have some reasons. The DM had on Thursday set the deadline of
11 am, Friday, for police to comply with the order.
Police Commissioner BS Bass said that there is confidentiality in any exchange between documents shared between Government departments. “We always follow the rule of law. We are ready to work with anyone, and if DM office wants to file a complaint against us, they must have some reasons,” said Bassi.
He also said that their Joint Commissioner of Police (New Delhi Range) MK Meena was looking into administrative lapses.
Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat said that the police have powers to investigate the issue under the CrPC Act as well as the Delhi Police Act, and that if anyone has any doubt on the same, then the police will take legal opinion.
Though, he refused to comment on the standoff between DM and police saying that the communication between the Government
|and the police was “privileged” and cannot be disclosed to the media, especially when it was a “political and administrative matter”.
The DM was asked by the Delhi Government to carry out a magisterial enquiry into the alleged suicide of Dausa farmer Gajendra Singh during an AAP rally on Wednesday.
However, police sources claimed that there are nearly 7,000 cases of unnatural deaths every year in the national capital including suicide cases in which “inquest” is done by police and the Government never shows interest in all these cases.
“Then why do they want a magisterial enquiry here when police have registered an FIR and carrying out a thorough investigation,” sources questioned.
“Inquest is done by magistrate as per law in cases of dowry death. But if the police have filed an FIR in the case, then inquest becomes part of police investigation, which has happened in this case. Sunanda Pushkar case is another such example,” said a senior police official.
Police have argued that under CrPc and Delhi Police Act, the Police Commissioner has the same powers as the DM, and indicated that they are ready to reply in the court if a complaint is filed against them for refusing to share information regarding the case.