NEW DELHI: Police must be “extra cautious” to ensure a conducive atmosphere for Eid so that the “situation doesn’t take an ugly turn”, the high court said Thursday while reviewing steps taken to secure Uttam Nagar, where a 26-year-old youth was killed in a clash on Holi.“Whatever happens in Delhi has a ripple effect, please don’t be lax,” a bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia told the counsel for police, stressing that the bandobast in the area should be such that it instils a sense of safety and security in all. It directed the authorities to ensure no one plays any mischief that has the potential to create any “untoward situation” while making it clear that heavy police arrangements in the area shall continue till Ram Navami.
HC pointed out that Eid is meant for celebration, and it is the duty of all authorities to ensure that on such a “pious occasion”, public life is not disrupted by any untoward incident of vandalism or hooliganism by any individual or any section of society. It was dealing with a PIL filed by a civil rights group, Association for Protection of Civil Rights, seeking court’s intervention as it feared “imminent communal violence” on Eid in Uttam Nagar.HC noted that the apprehensions in the petition arose from the incident of the death of a youth in the area on March 4, and, therefore, the police must be “extra cautious” and ensure that “all sections of society maintain restraint considering the past incident”.The court added that if, upon assessment of the situation, a need is felt to strengthen the arrangements, such measures shall be forthwith taken by the authorities.“The situation as described in the petition not only calls upon authorities to be at constant strict vigil but it also calls upon members of different sections of society to maintain restraint and conduct themselves in a manner which may promote peace and harmony and not cause any situation which may turn ugly,” the bench underlined.Standing counsel for Delhi Police, Sanjay Lao, assured HC that adequate police personnel from Dwarka district, 400 additional armed force personnel from Delhi Police, and 400 central armed police forces have been deployed to ensure Eid passes without incident in the area.Since March 5, adequate police arrangements have been made round-the-clock in Uttam Nagar JJ colony as well as the neighbouring areas, and several preventive actions have been taken, Lao told the court, adding that companies of armed police personnel are present in all 11 areas under police stations in Dwarka district and hundreds of police personnel are on vigil.He further said that 50 inflammat-ory posts were taken down from social media platforms following monitori-ng of online platforms, and requests have been made to take down about 170 such posts to date.Extensive verification has also been undertaken of over 8,000 persons in the area, “peace committees” have been formed at every police station, and 30 meetings have been held with the heads of religious places in the last two weeks, the police counsel further said.Additional solicitor general Chetan Sharma, appearing for the Centre, said the area is “saturated with security” and police have done commendable work.Senior advocate Nitya Ramkrishnan, who appeared for the petitioner, submitted that on March 15, certain people openly called for violence against the members of the Muslim community in Uttam Nagar, but no action was taken for hate speech by police.She cited Supreme Court’s clear direction that the moment there is a hate speech, police must register an FIR, but pointed out that no such case was lodged.The PIL said the death of the man on Holi was communalised through “coordinated dissemination of inflammatory content, mobilisation of crowds and organisation of protests and public gatherings”.Several people, including a minor, have been apprehended in connection with the death of the 26-year-old man.