Vandalism row: Delhi HC asks police to share status report with CM Secretariat

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday directed Delhi Police to send a copy of its status report, in relation to the probe of the incident of vandalism which took place outside the residence of Arvind Kejriwal during the ‘Kashmir Files’ row on March 30, to the Chief Minister Secretariat. A division bench presided […]

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday directed Delhi Police to send a copy of its status report, in relation to the probe of the incident of vandalism which took place outside the residence of Arvind Kejriwal during the ‘Kashmir Files’ row on March 30, to the Chief Minister Secretariat.

A division bench presided over by Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Sachin Datta issued the direction after the submission of the status report in a sealed cover by the Police.

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Considering the security aspect, the bench said it is not inclined to share the report with the Petitioner AAP lawmaker Saurabh Bhardwaj. “Since it concerns the arrangement at the residence of Chief Minister, in view of aspect of his security, we are not inclined to share the same with the petitioner. However, a copy of the report be sent to the CM secretariat in sealed cover,” the court stated.

During the last hearing on May 17, the Delhi Police had apprised the Court that it had restricted protests at the Civil Lines Metro station, the area where Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence is located, and security has been tightened there.

On April 25, the court observed a serious lapse of security in the vandalism incident that happened outside the Chief Minister’s house and directed the Police Commissioner to look into the matter.

The bench had asked the police to file a further status report within two weeks, disclosing aspects with regard to the review of security arrangements and what further steps have been taken, so that such incidents don’t recur in the future.

AAP lawmaker Saurabh Bhardwaj had moved the High Court seeking the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to undertake an independent probe into the vandalism incident.

On March 30, around 70 people were detained for creating a ruckus outside Kejriwal’s residence during a protest that was spearheaded by the Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha over his remarks in the Delhi Assembly on ‘The Kashmir Files’ movie that were deemed as “against the Kashmiri Pandit community” by the saffron clan.