No protests will be allowed in Delhi CM’s residence area: Delhi Police to HC

New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Tuesday apprised the Delhi High Court that it has restricted protests at the Civil Lines Metro station, the area where Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence is located, and security has been tightened there.

Responding to the case of vandalism at the CM’s house, the Delhi Police, represented by Advocate Sanjay Lao, sought its adjournment as the affidavit is yet to be verified by the Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain. Jain was not present during the course of the hearing citing some personal difficulty. Lao also informed that more security personnel have been deployed at the Chief Minister’s residence and the proposal to restrict entry on the road leading to the residence is also under consideration.

Allowing the status report to be filed by the next hearing in a sealed cover, the court posted the matter for May 30. In the last hearing on April 25, the court observed a serious lapse of security in the vandalism incident that happened outside the Chief Minister’s house and directed the Police Commissioner to look into the matter. The bench had asked the police to file a further status report within two weeks, disclosing aspects with regard to the review of security arrangements and what further steps have been taken, so that such incidents don’t recur in the future.

AAP lawmaker Saurabh Bhardwaj had moved the High Court seeking the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to undertake an independent probe into the vandalism incident.

On March 30, around 70 people were detained for creating a ruckus outside Kejriwal’s residence during a protest that was spearheaded by the Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha over his remarks in the Delhi Assembly on ‘The Kashmir Files’ movie that were deemed as “against the Kashmiri Pandit community” by the saffron clan.