NEW DELHI: Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on Wednesday came to the defence of the police before the Delhi High Court over their role in handling the violence in northeast Delhi, saying the policemen were not having picnic but facing acid attacks.
Mehta's submission came before a bench of justices S Muralidhar and Talwant Singh during the hearing of a plea seeking lodging of FIRs and arrests of people involved in the violence.
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When senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, representing activists Harsh Mander and Farah Naqvi, said the police must protect law without any fear or pressure and should not allow any damage to public property, Mehta shot back, "Police are not having picnic, they are facing acid attacks."
During the hearing, Gonsalves contended that the court in its order should say in strong words as to how police should act in the prevailing situation as they have been quiet till now.
Mehta took strong objection to this submission and said the court was hearing a public interest litigation and accused the petitioner of selective outrage based on video clips of three specific individuals.