“Pained” by continuing incidents of violence against people from Northeast despite its orders, the Delhi High Court today sought a report from the government on the steps taken by it to curb “the menace plaguing the society”.
A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice R S Endlaw made the observations while referring to the recent fatal assault of a young man from Northeast which was reported to be an incident of road rage.
“We are pained to note that inspite of our being seized of the issue of violence in the city of Delhi against persons hailing from North Eastern part of the country and further inspite of issuance of detailed directions from time to time, such incidents, rather than abating, continue to occur.
“There was a news report recently of a young man of North Eastern origin being fatally assaulted in an incident which was reported to be of road rage,” the court said.
The bench urged Delhi police to “act with alacrity” while investigating the crime and sought a detailed status report by August 11, the next date of hearing.
The court also accepted the suggestion of Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain that a status report be sought from Station House Officers (SHOs) of certain sensitive localities in the national capital, setting out steps being taken for controlling or preventing such incidents.
Kotla Mubarakpur, Lajpat Nagar, Munirka and some areas in and around Delhi University were the sensitive localities that were mentioned before the court.
The court also sought information regarding the measures taken by a Special Police Unit set up for dealing with crimes against people from Northeast and asked why the setting up of the cell “is appearing to be ineffective”.
It also asked the ASG to place before it the report of a committee constituted to look into the concerns of the persons hailing from the Northeast.
The bench also rejected CBI’s plea to withdraw from the case, which was initiated suo motu after a student hailing from Arunachal Pradesh died subsequent to being assaulted by some persons at Lajpat Nagar market here earlier this year.
The recent death of the Manipuri youth in south Delhi on July 20 pursuant to being assaulted by five persons was mentioned before the bench yesterday while the suo motu case was being heard.
The court had taken suo motu cognisance of media reports about the death of 19-year-old Tania, son of an Arunachal Pradesh MLA.
The court had issued a slew of directions to ensure the safety and security of people, hailing from northeastern states, here and said the police from those states can be deployed in Delhi to instill faith in the victims.
It had also asked Delhi Police to take preventive measures besides sensitising the police force towards the need and grievances of people hailing from that region.
Besides recruiting northeast citizens in police, the bench had also asked it to establish a special unit on the lines of Crime Against Women cell to redress the grievances of persons of that region.
(Source: PTI)
