Call of duty means no off-days for cops
The Centre on Monday cancelled the leaves of all Delhi Police personnel in view of coming Republic Day function and deployed around 4,000 personnel for the sit-in protest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. “A huge burden on Delhi Police at this sensitive time. All leaves are cancelled, definitely don’t need abuse and diversions at this time,” Minister of State for Home RPN Singh wrote on Twitter. The leave was cancelled to provide foolproof security in the run up to and during the coming Republic Day function, he said. Singh said around 4,000 security personnel have been deployed in and around the site of dharnas of Kejriwal. “If CM (is) serious about safety of Delhi, let these cops go back to policing,” Singh said.
Bar’s show cause notice to law Minister
Delhi law Minister Somnath Bharti was on Monday issued a show cause notice by Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) asking him to explain why his name will not be removed from the rolls for “tampering” of evidence in a case in which he was a defence lawyer and for which he has been indicted by a court. Rakesh Sherawat, Vice Chairman of BCD, said the notice was issued to Bharti seeking his response by
February 7 in a meeting of the Council held today.
Some are ‘sick and tired’ of Kejriwal’s dharna
It was not just office goers, but Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s dharna also took a toll on the sick. Rita Prasad, 58, suffering from acute arthritis had to go to Ram Manohar lohia Hospital for her weekly treatment, but was caught at Jantar Mantar road due to traffic diversions at Raisina Road. “My appointment was at 2 pm, but we are stuck in the jam and most of the roads are closed by the police,” she said. The protest also affected South Delhi people who had to go to lok Nayak and GB Pant Hospitals. The unannounced road diversions also resulted many to leave their cars and walk. “There is no point driving in this mess. I parked my car at Patel Chowk Metro station and walked sown to see a friend,” said Rajinder Hans. The unplanned restrictions irked many commuters who began to criticise the AAP-led Government’s intentions.
north block gets the heave-ho by kejri & co.
Even when Delhi Police allowed the Delhi Chief Minister to go to North Block along with his Ministers on Monday, Kejriwal chose to sit on dharna along with his followers and MlAs outside Rail Bhavan. The CM was involved in a heated exchange with police for over 20 minutes at Rail Bhavan. “We had asked him to wait until noon since the Republic Day rehearsals were on. We had also given him the option of going to North Block with his Ministers,” said a senior police official. Kejriwal asked whether the media would be allowed to accompany him. “We refused,” the official added.