Delhi HC seeks report on brawl between tempo drivers, police

Representational Picture

On June 19, 2019, the Delhi High Court asked the Union Home Ministry and the city police to file a report, within a week, on Sunday's incident in the capital's Mukherjee Nagar area where a road accident led to a clash between two tempo drivers and police personnel.

A division bench of Justice Jayant Nath and Justice Najmi Waziri listed the matter for July 2 for further hearing after taking up the pleas seeking compensation to the victims of the incident and a court-monitored investigation in the incident.

While one petition has been filed by Seema Singhal through advocates Sangeeta Bharti and Rubinder Ghumman, the other was filed by businessman Manjeet Singh Chugh. The court pulled up the Delhi Police over the incident even as it said that the case has been transferred to the Crime Branch.

A minor incident of road rage turned into a major clash, when police, both uniformed and plainclothes personnel allegedly assaulted auto-driver Sarabjeet Singh, who threatened them with his 'kirpan', and his minor son. The incident, which reportedly took place in the middle of a busy road, was also recorded on CCTV.

The petitioners sought an independent inquiry by an impartial agency like the CBI into the "most horrific incident of police brutality" on Sarabjeet Singh and his minor son on June 16 near Mukherjee Nagar Police Station so that the guilty can be booked and the victims are compensated in accordance with the law.

The petitioner alleged barbaric, horrific and malafide use of power by the police as victims were brutally beaten up by sticks and pistol butts by several policemen when Sarabjeet Singh's Gramin Seva auto brushed against a police Emergency Response Vehicle.

The horrific incident of the excessive police force and brutality led to huge unrest amongst the general public at large who amassed in huge numbers in front of the Mukherjee Nagar police station, the petitioners told the court. They said that brutal attack on Sarabjeet Singh and his minor son are wholly arbitrary, unjust, oppressive and destructive of their constitutional rights.

The petitioners sought CCTV footage of the incident as well as medical records of the victims. They have also sought framing of appropriate guidelines for police reforms to prevent such violent acts of police brutality and excessive force.

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