The Delhi high court on Tuesday declined to take suo motu cognisance of the alleged misconduct and derogatory remarks made against lawyers by suspended assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Manasvi Vashishtha during a protest outside the Delhi Police Headquarters over his transfer.
“File a formal petition; we will look into it. You file it; we will order listing. I assure you we will get listed and look into it. AAP representation dijiye, we are a court of record. What do you mean suo moto? Whatever material is there with you, let it be submitted with the registry. This was after a group of lawyers urged the Delhi high court to take suo motu cognisance of the incident, saying that derogatory language was used against the legal fraternity and they were threatening to use arms such as AK-47s. ACP Manasvi Vashishtha was suspended following the protest. An FIR was registered on a complaint by advocate Amulya Ratan.
The controversy stems from an October 23 incident at Shahdara police station, following an alleged assault on advocate Lalit Bansal, who suffered a serious head injury.
We assure you we will look into it,” the court told the lawyers. Several advocates visited the police station that evening to seek action against those named in the assault case, according to the lawyers’ account. The bar members sought an independent and time-bound inquiry into the incident, the representation said.
A protest was held outside the Delhi Police headquarters on Monday, with scores of Delhi Police officers, including the recently transferred Gandhi Nagar ACP, seeking a meeting with police commissioner Anurag Kumar over the recent face-off with Shahdara lawyers. On Monday, the Central Delhi court bar association wrote to the Delhi Police Commissioner, demanding the registration of a criminal case against Vashishtha for his alleged misconduct and derogatory remarks against lawyers during a protest outside the Delhi Police headquarters over his transfer.
