The Delhi High Court on Tuesday pulled up the city police for lodging a stalking case against a woman lawyer and allegedly dragging her out of her residence to arrest her despite court orders against coercive action.
‘Delinquent officers’
A Bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Deepa Sharma directed the Union Home Ministry and the Delhi government to take action against the “delinquent officers” and file a report before the next hearing on January 5.
The Delhi High Court Bar Association also called for a post-lunch strike on Tuesday in protest against the alleged assault on the lawyer by the police.
“How can you [the police] lodge a stalking case against a woman? It cannot be done…We want immediate action,” the Bench said.
It directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police of South District to conduct a fact-finding enquiry into the matter and file a report as the officers involved are from Safdarjung Enclave police station. It ordered the police to provide security to the woman till the next hearing.
Contempt plea
The court order was passed after the lawyer moved a contempt plea, seeking action against the police officers for violating the High Court’s December 18 direction not to take coercive action against her.
According to the lawyers, including senior advocates Kirti Uppal and Vikas Pahwa, appearing for the woman, the case was lodged against her in connection with a property dispute.
Her lawyers claimed that the court had ordered around 4 p.m. on Monday protection to the woman from coercive action, which was communicated to the investigating officer (IO) of the case.
Late communication
The IO, who came to the court after the Bench ordered his presence, defended his actions saying he received late the communication that the non-bailable warrant against the woman had been stayed or set aside.
Stating that he received the information after 5 p.m., the IO said he had arrested her by that time but released her as soon as he came to know about the stay order.
