Delhi Protest Row Reaches Supreme Court Over Alleged Torture of DYFI Members
National President of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) AA Rahim has approached the Supreme Court challenging the alleged police excesses on its members inside compartmentalised vans after their detention during a protest demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday afternoon.
In his plea before the apex court, Rahim, who is also the Rajya Sabha member and CPI(M) leader alleged that DYFI office bearers, central committee members and activists were illegally detained from Connaught Place and put inside a bus on Sunday afternoon. The bus was taken to an isolated area which was closed from all sides and heavily guarded in front of Daryaganj Restaurant, where the protestors were segregated on the basis of gender and were shifted to a specialised police van with five divisions (cells), Rahim’s plea claimed.
“This was not spontaneous excesses but premeditated and cold-bloodedly carried out physical assault. Thereafter, inside the police van cells they were slapped on their faces, kicked on their backs with shoes and punched on their heads. Several officers were in uniform without any name badges. Later, they were shifted to Surajmal Stadium, which they reached at around 14:00 hrs. The said vehicles were effectively untraceable mobile jails beyond the reach of the Constitution and the Bharya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 20 23 (BNSS),” the plea further read.
It further said that no arrest memo was made out nor the grounds of arrest shared with the protestors. They were released only in the evening after police custody of over seven hours without any food or basic necessities, the plea stated.
“The petitioners emphasise that personnel wearing plain clothes were present at Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital when the protestors went there for medico-legal examination. There is every likelihood that the medico-legal certificates would not truly reflect the nature of injuries inflicted upon the protestors,” Rahim’s plea said.
It added that the detention of DYFI members was against the law and even the order passed by the Supreme Court on the very same day in an ex-parte (during absence of the party) hearing of a bunch of petitions relating to unlawful clampdown on protestors in Delhi.
DYFI through Rahim has sought directions for declaration to the effect that no police authority shall use the compartmentalised vehicles with curtains as places of detention of persons. It has sought direction to make a disclosure of the detention record and to preserve the CCTV footage and GPS evidence. Rahim has also sought directions to conduct an independent investigation into the matter and grant compensation to the victims. Lastly, Rahim has prayed the court to directed to all authorities concerned to identify the personnel from Delhi Police, CRPF and any other force personnel who directly or indirectly were involved in the detention and illegal detention of DYFI members.
