oppn parties Jahangirpuri Procession: Why Was It Allowed When It Was Not Permitted

News Snippets

  • Supreme Court questions the continuing relevance of two-child norms. The Court observed that falling fertility rates have weakened the population-control rationale behind laws disqualifying people with more than two children from contesting local body elections. It referred the issue to a larger Bench for consideration
  • Supreme Court declines to shift Tirupati laddu case outside Andhra Pradesh. The Court rejected a plea seeking transfer of the trial, despite arguments that political statements by Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister could affect the fairness of proceedings
  • Supreme Court transfers Azam Khan's fresh ED bail plea to Allahabad High Court. The apex court declined to consider the Samajwadi Party leader's bail request in a fresh Enforcement Directorate case and directed that it be listed before a division Bench of the High Court on November 16
  • Two killed in Delhi building collapse; contractor booked. Two bodies were recovered after a building collapsed in Chawri Bazaar. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the contractor had been booked and the concerned junior and assistant engineers suspended
  • Uttar Pradesh voter rolls show a 2.4-crore discrepancy. A difference of approximately 2.4 crore names has been reported between the state's panchayat and rural Assembly voter lists. The Election Commission has ordered the two sets of rolls to be matched
  • Gujarat announces 3% dearness allowance hike. The state government announced a three-percentage-point increase in dearness allowance for government employees and pensioners ahead of Diwali
  • Sensex and Nifty post their strongest single-day gains in months. The Sensex surged 2,008.61 points, or 2.60%, to close at 79,310.01, while the Nifty 50 climbed 576 points, or 2.40%, to 24,536.60. Financial and automobile stocks led the rally, supported by falling crude prices and renewed foreign investor buying
  • Maaya Rajeshwaran reaches WTA-level quarter-final. The 17-year-old Indian defeated Poland's Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3, becoming the first Indian woman since Sania Mirza in 2012 to reach a quarter-final at a WTA Tour-level singles event
  • Tanvi Patri reaches Youth Olympics badminton final. The 15-year-old defeated Japan's Yuzuno Watanabe in the semi-final, assuring India of a medal and becoming the first Indian badminton player to reach the girls' singles final at the Youth Olympics
  • India beat Pakistan 3-2 in SAFF Championship. India defeated Pakistan in a closely contested match, having led 3-0 before conceding two late goals. The victory was reported as a significant result for India's second-string side
  • India beat Japan 4-1 to win a record sixth Asian Champions Trophy. India recovered from an early deficit to defeat Japan in the final at Mohali, extending its record as the tournament's most successful men's team
  • The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on a petition challenging Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants the CEC and Election Commissioners protection from legal proceedings for acts performed in their official duties. The petition argues that such blanket immunity could leave citizens without an effective remedy for alleged wrongdoing by the Commission
  • The Supreme Court told voters whose names were deleted from Delhi's draft electoral rolls not to be apprehensive about seeking re-enrolment through Form 6, after the Election Commission assured it that such applicants would not be prosecuted merely because their names had appeared in earlier rolls
  • Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opened the party's campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections with an Insaaf rally in Sangrur, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's home district, accusing the AAP government of failing to control drugs, gangster violence and corruption. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge outlined six commitments, including a drug-free Punjab, protection of farmers, employment for young people and action against corruption
  • Rahul Gandhi accused the AAP government of running Punjab through a remote control from Delhi and questioned Bhagwant Mann's ability to tackle drug abuse, making personal allegations about the Chief Minister's conduct during their time together in Parliament
Stock markets on fire due to US results, Sensex gains 2008 points to reach its highest level in 8 months
oppn parties
Jahangirpuri Procession: Why Was It Allowed When It Was Not Permitted

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2022-05-09 08:06:59

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

Delhi additional sessions judge Gagandeep Singh denied bail to 8 accused in the Jahangirpuri riots case as they were likely to threaten and influence witnesses if released on bail at this juncture as the chargesheet was yet to be filed in the case. But the judge took serious note of the fact that an unauthorized Hanuman Jayanti procession was allowed to be taken out and proceed through a sensitive area with policemen from the Jahangiripuri police station and other officers from DCP Reserve Force in tow.

What is the meaning of authorization if processions or rallies or meetings that are not authorized are not stopped from being held? Is the authority of the police not undermined if people take out processions for which permission has been denied? It is all the more shameful that policemen accompany such processions - ostensibly on the plea to prevent a law and order situation - instead of not allowing them to proceed.

The judge was absolutely right in saying that it was "utter failure" on part of the police in not stopping the procession which was being taken out without the necessary permissions. He was also right in saying that the complicity of the police in allowing the procession needs to be probed. "The liability on the part of the officers concerned needs to be fixed so that no such incident takes place in the future and police are not complacent in preventing illegal activities", the judge said and directed the Delhi police commissioner to take remedial measures.

If the police had done their job and stopped the procession at the starting point it might have created some law and order problems but they were well-equipped to tackle that. But the consequences of allowing it to proceed from a sensitive area were disastrous and resulted in riots. The police must accept the blame, find out who decided that the procession can proceed, fix responsibility and punish the errant officers. Further, the system must be made robust to ensure that such unauthorized processions, rallies or meetings are not allowed to be held.

Picture courtesy: screengrab from a video tweeted by Kaushal Modi