NEW DELHI: In the wake of the violence in Northeast Delhi, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked senior officials from both the state and central government to personally meet the victims and their families.
A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and S A Bhambani said, “This is the time to reach out and do confidence building. We can't let another 1984 happen in this city, not under the watch of this court.”
The court also ordered authorities, including governments and police, to ensure the safe passage of dead bodies, the injured and their family members from the riot-affected areas. It directed the governments to ensure that the last rites are performed with utmost dignity and proper security.
The court ordered 24x7 help desks in the offices of all District Legal Services Authorities and directed various secretaries of district legal services authorities to ensure that their helplines work 24x7 at least for the next two weeks to cater to the immediate needs of victims.
The special commissioner of police assured the court that he would immediately look into this and set up helplines and publicize them.
The bench asked the police to ensure emergency treatment for those injured in the unprecedented violence in the capital over the last three days and arrange for sufficient private ambulances.
The court also took note of the plea made by petitioners that many people have had to leave their homes and are afraid to get back.
On this, Justice Muralidhar observed, “If there aren't enough shelters, the government should tackle this on a war footing to ensure that an adequate number of shelters are set up.”
In these shelters, basic amenities including blankets, medicines, sanitation and clean drinking water should be ensured.
The court also appointed advocate Zubeda Begum as the amicus curiae in the case.
“We heard that one IB officer has been attacked. These things should be immediately looked into,” the judge added while slating the hearing for Friday after asking the amicus curiae to submit a report on the compliance of the order.