Court says officer's image can't be tarnished by viral protest video alone

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday declined to entertain a plea seeking the transfer of an inquiry from Additional DCP Sandeep Lamba, observing that the officer's reputation could not be damaged solely on the basis of a viral video that allegedly showed him slapping a woman protester during the Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) "Sansad Chalo" march at Jantar Mantar.

Hearing the matter, Justice Girish Kathpalia reportedly remarked that people were often unaware of the realities on the ground during large protests. The judge observed that even if there were allegations of excessive use of force, they could not by themselves justify tarnishing the officer's image or lead to the assumption that he would be biased in every matter entrusted to him, India Today reported.

The petition was filed by a 68-year-old woman who alleged that she had been forcibly taken from her home during Ramadan last year and illegally detained overnight by the police. She contended that she had lost confidence in Lamba's ability to conduct a fair inquiry into her complaint.

According to the plea, the inquiry had been initiated following an earlier High Court direction ordering an independent probe and preservation of CCTV footage from the police station where she was allegedly detained. The petitioner also claimed that Lamba had initially sought to close the inquiry without recording her statement. After she challenged that communication, the High Court directed the officer to record her version before concluding the probe, following which her statement was recorded on July 13.

The petitioner later cited reports of Lamba allegedly slapping a woman protester during the Jantar Mantar demonstrations, arguing that the incident created a reasonable apprehension of bias and warranted transferring the inquiry to another senior officer.

Appearing for the petitioner, advocate M. Sufian Siddiqui argued that the recent allegations, read together with the officer's earlier conduct, had raised serious concerns about his impartiality.

The High Court, however, observed that the fundamental right to protest did not extend to disrupting institutions of the State and said an officer was also entitled to a fair inquiry into allegations made against him. It held that the allegations relating to the protest could not automatically establish bias in unrelated proceedings and cautioned against discrediting institutions without sufficient basis.

Delhi Police informed the court that the inquiry into the woman's complaint had already been completed, her statement had been recorded, and the report had been forwarded to the competent authority for a final decision, which would be communicated to her.

Taking note of the submission, the court held that no further relief survived in the matter and dismissed the petition.

The petitioner was represented by advocates M. Sufian Siddiqui, Rakesh Bhugra, Niyazuddin and Mohammad Mazhar Ahmed of Global Law Chambers.