The Delhi High Court on Monday sought the response of the Centre, the city government and the police on a plea by a Jamia Millia Islamia student seeking compensation for injuries suffered allegedly in police action against anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protesters on December 15 last year.
At the outset, the court was of the view that the student ought to have filed a civil suit if he was seeking compensation as his claims would have to be proved through evidence.
“These are matters of evidence. Why are you not filing a suit for damages? On the basis of annexures in a writ claims cannot be proved,” said a Bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice C. Hari Shankar.
“It has become a fashion in Delhi to file a writ for everything,” the Bench said.
Fracture of legs
The plea by Shayaan Mujeeb, a Jamia student, has alleged that his both legs got fractured in the “brutal violence carried out” by security personnel.
He contended that he was in the university library on December 15, 2019 studying, when police personnel entered the building and allegedly beat up the students there.
Advocate Nabila Hasan, representing the student, contended that CCTV footage show the police entering the library and beating up the students. Mr. Mujeeb has sought a ₹2 crore compensation for the injuries suffered and registration of an FIR for the offences allegedly committed by the police.
He also sought reimbursement of ₹2 lakh, which, he claimed, was spent on treatment of his broken legs, in one of which a rod has to be inserted due to the severity of the fracture.
Another claim
Earlier, another student, Mohd Minhajuddin, who claimed to have lost vision in one eye in the incident, had moved a separate plea seeking a probe into the incident and demanded compensation for injuries.
