Rebutting the Opposition charge in the Rajya Sabha that law and order has deteriorated in the national capital, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday told the House that Delhi Police handled the situation in a professional manner.
Citing the incidents in JNU and Patiala House court, the Opposition led by Congress slammed the government questioning slapping of sedition charge against some students of Jawaharlal Nehru University and alleged that attempts were being made to save the perpetrators of violence in Patiala House court.
“The incidents which happened during last few days were handled by Delhi Police in a professional manner. Therefore, I am not in agreement that the law and order situation in Delhi has deteriorated during the recent past,” Singh said while replying to a debate on Calling Attention Motion on ‘Complete breakdown of law and order in Delhi’.
The Home Minister said the police acted as per law in the anti-national and anti-constitutional incidents in the JNU. “A group of many students in the university tried to vitiate the atmosphere but it remained limited to the university premises,” he said.
He added that “the Delhi police, while exercising restraint in Patiala House court premises, did not use force because there was a full possibility of stampede due to limited space in the court premises and use of tear gas would have interfered with the working of the court.”
Earlier, leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad questioned how a “doctored video” in JNU case could be the basis for slapping sedition charge when real videos of violence in Patiala court leads to only “FIR and bail within 30 minutes”.
Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said the Delhi Police had last year successfully handled more than 11,000 agitations and demonstrations.
The license branch of Delhi Police has sanctioned 365 programmes during this year, which were successfully conducted. “All these negate the instant question,” he added.