The Delhi Police has defended its personnel in plain clothes during the July 20 “Sansad Chalo” protest march by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), telling the Supreme Court that they were strategically merged with the crowd due to the urgency of the situation.
The affidavit has been filed in response to petitions seeking a court-monitored investigation into alleged police excesses and is intended to serve as a common response in four connected petitions. The police said in the affidavit that the allegation of excessive force was unsustainable given the scale of the gathering, claiming that about 5,000 police personnel were deployed to manage more than 30,000 protesters spread across nearly three kilometres. The police said that the ensuing confrontation left more than 240 police and uniformed personnel and around 200 protesters/public persons injured.
In a counter-affidavit filed before the Supreme Court, deputy commissioner of Police Sachin Sharma said that police personnel in plain clothes carrying lathis were “spotters” drawn from the Special Branch, Special Cell, Crime Branch and local police. The police said that deployment of such personnel is neither illegal nor unusual and claims similar arrangements are used during large public gatherings, including Independence Day and Republic Day events. Police defended its use of force against student protesters during the protest march, saying that it resorted to a “graded” response only after the gathering ceased to remain peaceful, with sections of the crowd breaching multiple layers of barricades and attempting to move towards Parliament. The police said its personnel initially attempted to regulate and contain the gathering, but the situation deteriorated after protesters allegedly breached successive barricades and moved towards Parliament despite there being no permission for a march to Parliament. At the same time, the police have told the Supreme Court that the question whether the force used was excessive can appropriately be examined by the committee proposed to be constituted by the Court, and that it would cooperate with such an exercise.
