HC directs Delhi Police to file status report on vandalism outside CM Kejriwal's residence, preserve CCTV footage
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New Delhi: Delhi Police told the high court today that it has taken cognisance of the alleged attack outside Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence and registered an FIR (police case).
The Delhi High Court has sought a status report from police in relation to the alleged attack 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 AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj concerning the incident, granted time to Delhi Police to file its status report in connection with the ongoing investigation in a 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.
Last Wednesday, members of the BJP youth wing had allegedly vandalised property outside the residence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, also the Aam Aadmi Party national convenor, during a protest against his remarks on the film 'The Kashmir Files'.
Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, appearing for the Delhi Police and the central government, said that all steps were being taken to address the concerns and all the evidence, including the CCTV footage from cameras around the Chief Minister's residence, as well as the arterial roads, will be preserved.
He said that eight people had already been arrested and the investigation was being carried out.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Navin Chawla, which was hearing a petition by AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj, granted time to the Delhi Police to file its status report on the ongoing investigation in a sealed cover.
Mr Bhardwaj, in his petition through advocate Bharat Gupta, has asked for a Special Investigation Team to probe the alleged attack and argued that the vandalisation appears to have been carried out with the Delhi Police's 'tacit complicity'.