NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a plea seeking action against suspended Delhi Police ACP Manasvi Vashishta and other cops for allegedly threatening advocates by “use of AK-47”.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma said the matter will be taken up for hearing on Friday. The matter was mentioned before the bench on Wednesday for urgent listing.
The bench noted the submission and said, “List it on Friday.”
The mentioning followed after the bench on Tuesday declined to initiate suo-motu proceedings of the issue, and asked the lawyers to file a “proper plea” along with all available material.
A group of lawyers on Tuesday urged the bench to take suo motu cognisance of the issue, claiming that remarks such as “use of AK-47” and “kale coat ke gunde (goons in black coats)” were made by police personnel against the advocates.
The controversy stems from an October 23 incident at Shahdara police station, where advocate Lalit Bansal allegedly sustained a serious head injury during a scuffle.
The incident was followed by a confrontation between lawyers and cops at the police station, prompting district court lawyers to launch an indefinite strike, which was later called off after Delhi Police transferred Vashishta, who was then posted as the sub-divisional police officer in Gandhi Nagar, to the Special Police Unit for Women and Children (SPUWAC) on October 28.
Inspector Arun Kumar, who was then the SHO of Shahdara police station, was transferred to the security unit.
The controversy resurfaced on October 2 when Vashishta and a group of Delhi Police personnel staged a protest outside the police headquarters against the transfers. Certain remarks were also made about lawyers during the demonstration. Vashishta was later suspended by the Ministry of Home Affairs.