Delhi Violence Death Toll Hits 20

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'Can't Allow Another 1984 Under Our Watch': High Court Slams Delhi Police Over Violence

The court was hearing a petition filed by retired bureaucrat Harsh Mander on violence in Delhi which 24 people have lost their lives.

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The Delhi High court coming down heavily on the Police on Wednesday for the violence in northeast Delhi and said, "We can't let another 1984 scenario happen in this city; not under the watch of this court". It added that the highest functionaries of the state have to be very alert and "ensure that families everywhere are safe."

The two-judge bench comprising of Justices S Muralidhar and Anup Bhambhani was continuing the hearing in a plea filed by retired bureaucrat Harsh Mander on violence in Delhi which 24 people have lost their lives including that of a police constable and at least 250 are injured. The court also applauded the Delhi police's effort in evacuating the injured as directed in the midnight order on Wednesday.

The court also observed that several people have left their homes and are afraid to get back. "If there aren't enough shelters, the government should tackle this on "war footing" to ensure that adequate number of shelters are set up," Justice Murlidhar said. The court also expressed that the killing of I-B officer is 'extremely unfortunate' and said that the Delhi chief minister and deputy CM should visit the affected areas for confidence-building among people.

'Register FIRs Against Four BJP Leaders'

In a separate plea seeking registration of FIRs against BJP leaders Anurag Thakur, Parvesh Sahib Singh, Abhay Verma, and Kapil Mishra for making provocative statements that led to riots in Delhi the court asked the Delhi police why weren't they registering FIRs. "You showed alacrity in registering FIRs for damages to property and arson. Why aren't you registering it for these speeches? Don't you even want to acknowledge the presence of a crime? Just register FIRs!" the bench said.

During the hearing, the videos of the hate speeches of all the four leaders were played in front of the judges, NDTV reported.

Expressing displeasure over the delay in registering the FIRs against the three leaders the court ruled, "The Commissioner shall follow Lalita Kumari guidelines and seriously consider the consequences of not registering the FIR. No one is above the Rule of Law."

Midnight Hearing

On Tuesday violent mob armed with rods and sticks, roamed in northeast Delhi, setting houses and shops on fire. The vandals also set ablaze mosque in Ashok Nagar and placed a Hanuman flag and a national flag on its minaret on Tuesday, February 25.

A curfew was imposed in Maujpur, Jaffarabad, Chandbagh and Karawal Nagar later in the evening. At 12:30 am on Wednesday, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval visited the violence-hit areas in northeast Delhi.

In the midnight hearing, at Justice Muralidhar's residence, the Delhi Police received flak for their inaction in controlling the situation. Slamming the police, the High Court said that the Delhi Police should not wait for court's order and rather, should take action on its own. It added that the violence would have been avoided had the police acted against the instigators on time.

Former Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and former Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia Najeeb Jung also slammed the Delhi Police and questioned the leadership of the police. He said that SHOs are "a competent lot" but are not "not being led properly".

Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said that the prevalent situation is the "colossal failure of the Delhi Police".

Supreme Court Slams Delhi Police

Meanwhile, hearing the petitions seeking intervention in incidents of violence in the national capital, the Supreme Court said the clashes were "unfortunate". However, it refused to entertain pleas on the violence and said that the HC is already hearing the matter.

A high-level meeting was convened by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday in which leaders of all parties including CM Arvind Kejriwal took part. Speaking to media following the meeting, Kejriwal said that all political parties would work together to restore normalcy in the riot-hit areas.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said that he is writing to the Union Home Minister for deploying the Army and imposing a curfew in the affected areas.

In the wake of tensions, the board exams of class X and XII scheduled to take place on Wednesday have been postponed for students in Northeast and East Delhi.

Delhi Police has issued a notification containing telephone numbers of police personnel located at hospitals in Delhi. People can contact the following officials for information regarding the victims of the violence:

Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital: Sub-Inspector Gajender Singh (9818120026)

* Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital and Maulana Azad Hospital: Sub-Inspector Yogender Singh (7982756328)

* RML Hospital: Sub-Inspector Devender Singh (9818313342)

* Al-Hind Hospital: Assistant Sub-Inspector Narender Rana (9868738042)

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Editor : Shubhendu Deshmukh
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By : Reethu Ravi

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