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The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought a status report from the Delhi Police on a plea filed by a man alleging that he was assaulted and slapped by Delhi PWD Minister Parvesh Verma during a road inspection in west Delhi.
The matter was heard by a bench of Justice Sachin Datta, which also took note of the objection raised by the respondent authorities opposing the plea on maintainability grounds. The petitioner, Sahib Singh, has sought police protection for himself and his family, preservation of CCTV and other electronic evidence, and an independent probe into his allegations against the minister and others. According to the petition, Singh was accompanying Tilak Nagar MLA Jarnail Singh during an inspection of road construction work along the Outer Ring Road on September 27 when he was recording the proceedings on his mobile phone. He alleges that Verma slapped him after questions were raised over the quality of the road work. The petitioner further alleges that his mobile phone, which contained video footage of the incident, was forcibly taken and damaged and that he was subsequently assaulted and threatened by persons accompanying the minister. Singh had initially approached the Vikas Puri police station with a complaint, which was recorded vide DD No. 70A dated September 27. He alleges that despite seeking registration of an FIR, the police subsequently recorded an NCR under Section 115(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The petitioner has also alleged that he subsequently received threatening calls and messages on WhatsApp and social media, including threats directed at him and his family. He has sought a probe into the source of these communications. The plea seeks directions to preserve CCTV footage, DD entries, PCR records, video recordings and other electronic evidence relating to the incident and subsequent events. It specifically seeks preservation of footage from September 25 to 30 from the relevant locations. Singh has also sought that the investigation be entrusted to an independent team or agency not connected with the police personnel against whom he has made allegations. Alternatively, he has sought the constitution of a judicially supervised inquiry committee headed by a former Delhi High Court judge. The petition maintains that it does not seek any finding by the High Court on the ultimate culpability of the minister or other respondents but seeks protection, preservation of evidence and a fair and impartial investigation. (ANI)
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