Unruly crowd created fear, police inadequate: HC on BJP violence at Kejriwal home

The Delhi high court on Friday sought a status report from the police in relation to the alleged attack outside the residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal earlier this week and said that an "element of fear" was sought to be created by the "unruly crowd" and the police force at the spot was "inadequate" and "outnumbered".

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Navin Chawla, hearing a petition by Aam Aadmi Party MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj concerning the incident, granted time to the Delhi police to file its status report in connection with the ongoing investigation in sealed cover.

"Some took the law into their hands. There is element of fear sought to be created. That is evident. The police force was inadequate...they did try to stop them but they were outnumbered," the court observed.

The Delhi police, represented by Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, told the court that the police has registered an FIR on its own in relation of the alleged attack and taking all steps to address the safety concerns.

He added that all the evidence, including the CCTV footage from cameras around the CM residence as well as the arterial roads towards it, would be preserved.

"Delhi police will set up a meeting with the CM secretariat. We don't know if they are feeling any apprehension," said Jain who claimed that instant petition was "misconceived".

He added that eight people have already been arrested in relation to the case and investigation is underway.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the petitioner, urged the court to issue notice on the petition and pass a direction for the preservation of CCTV footage of the incident.

Senior advocate Rahul Mehta, also appearing for the petitioner, objected to the registration of an "unnamed" FIR when there are videos to show the presence of a member of Parliament.

"This is too premature," the court stated.

Bhardwaj, in his petition through advocate Bharat Gupta, has sought the constitution of an SIT to probe the alleged attack and argued that the vandalisation of the official residence of the Chief Minister appears to have been carried out with Delhi Police's tacit complicity.

”On March 30, 2022, several BJP goons, in the garb of a protest, launched an attack on the official residence of the Delhi CM. Videos and photographs show that these goons casually walked through the security cordon (maintained by Delhi police), kicked and broke the boom barrier, broke the CCTVs cameras with lathis, threw paint on the gate of the residence and almost climbed over the gate, while the Delhi police personnel simply looked on, doing little to stop the protestors,” the plea alleged.