Coming forward for the protection of the residents of the Capital’s night shelters, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday pulled up the Delhi Police for taking their finger prints, saying there were apprehensions that they might use them for foisting false cases.
The police had started collecting finger prints of the homeless to create a database.
The Court pulled up the police for collecting the finger prints of the homeless when counsel for a non-government organisation opposed it saying that the investigating agency had no authority to collect their finger prints.
Counsel for the NGO further submitted that the finger prints were taken only in serious offences or after conviction.
Medico-legal casesThe Court also directed the police to submit medico-legal cases of those homeless people who were allegedly beaten by them.
Taking a suo motu note of the demolition of a night shelter in the winter of 2010, the Bench has been hearing the matter since. Ten days after the demolition, a 35-year-old balloon vendor had died due to severe cold after being driven out of the shelter.
The Court had then also observed that on an average there should be one night shelter in each area with 1 lakh population. It had also said that each night shelter should have space for accommodating at least 150 homeless.
