The three lawyers who were allegedly instrumental in orchestrating the violence at the Patiala House Courts complex on February 15 and 17 are yet to respond to repeated summons sent to them by the Delhi Police. The latter, however, seem to be in no hurry to crack the whip.
“Law will take its own course”, “We will wait further” and “hasty arrest would curtail their personal liberty” were the responses from most senior police officers when asked about the lack of action taken against lawyers Vikram Singh Chauhan, Yashpal Singh and Om Sharma — who have not joined investigations despite being asked to do so twice.
“On February 16, we summoned Mr. Chauhan, Mr. Singh and Mr. Sharma after the attack on journalists and other activists a day before, but they did not turn up. We followed it up with another set of summons on February 17 but they still haven’t come up for questioning,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Jatin Narwal.
The victims of the assault have alleged that the police’s failure to check February 15 incident allowed the next one to follow.
The three lawyers were summoned after two FIRs were lodged into the first incident of violence, but these went ignored.
BJP MLA O.P. Sharma was finally arrested after he joined investigations on Thursday, but the lawyers remained accessible only to TV channels, not the police.
“Avoiding being questioned would go against them. They have skipped appearance twice, but at this stage that I cannot say that we will send teams to arrest them as that would amount to curtailing their personal liberty,” said another officer
The three were part of a larger group that was captured assaulting a journalist and fellow lawyers on February 17.
Two more FIRs were registered in connection with the assault on Kanhaiya, lawyer Rajeev Verma and journalist Tarique Anwar. The police have slapped charges of assault, rioting and robbery against unknown persons, but investigations are yet to begin.
About others who were responsible for the violence, the officers said they were looking at video footage and would gradually zero on the accused.
Also, they ducked questions about the available video evidence being against the lawyers and the attacks taking place amid heavy media presence. In fact, some lawyers had openly celebrated the attack even as the police remained a mute spectator.
Some lawyers had openly celebrated the attack even as the police remained a mute spectator
