News Analysis India

Tag: Republic day violence

  • Punjab government to give Rs 2 lakh compensation to 83 arrested in Delhi for tractor march

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government has decided to give Rs 2 lakh as compensation to 83 people who were arrested by the Delhi Police after a tractor march against the Centre’s farm laws turned violent on the Republic Day this year.

    The farmers had taken out a tractor march on January 26 in the national capital to highlight their two principal demands of a repeal of three new agri laws and a legal guarantee of minimum support prices.

    However, the march took a violent turn as thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with the police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort.

    “Reiterating My Govt’s stand to support the ongoing #FarmersProtest against three black farm laws, We have decided to give Rs 2 lakh compensation to 83 people arrested by Delhi Police for carrying out a tractor rally in the national capital on 26th January, 2021,” Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said in a tweet on Friday.

    Hundreds of farmers have been camping at the three Delhi borders since November 2020 with the demand that the government repeal the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

    The Centre, which held 11 rounds of formal dialogue with farmers, has maintained that the new laws are pro-farmer, while protesters claim they would be left at the mercy of corporations because of the legislations.

  • Republic Day violence: Court grants bail to man accused of assaulting cop

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Saturday granted bail to a man who allegedly assaulted a policeman on duty with a spear during the violence which erupted at the Red Fort on Republic Day this year.

    On January 26, protesting farmers had clashed with police during the tractor rally against the three farm laws and stormed into the Red Fort, hoisting religious flags on its domes and injuring scores of policemen.

    Granting him relief, Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau said neither the photographs and videos relied upon by the prosecution are very clear nor accused Khempreet Singh can be seen attacking anyone in them.

    “The charge ­sheet against the accused has already been filed and he is no longer required for investigation,” the judge said, adding that an accused is “deemed innocent till proved guilty”.

    She further said that most of these offences in the case are bailable in nature and 14 accused out of the 18 arrested, including main conspirators Deep Sandhu and Iqbal Singh, are already out on bail.

    Th judge also relied upon the observations in the bail order passed by the Delhi High Court in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case filed against three student activists — Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita, and Asif Iqbal Tanha.

    “The Delhi High Court observed that at a time when the society is polarised and fractured across various lines and ideology reached vanishing point, the court will do all within their mandate to prevent the misuse of the law and alleviate the anxiety which has come to surround these individuals,” ASJ Lau noted.

    The Hon’ble Delhi Court observed that the courts do not function in a vacuum and judges surely have a view on what is happening around them and that the India democracy is undergoing metamorphosis, she added.

    According to the police, accused Khempreet Singh entered the Red Fort through Lahore Gate with an unruly mob, waived the spear from the ramparts, and severely attacked and assaulted the on-duty policeman.

    Denying this claim, advocates Jaspreet Singh Rai and Jagdeep Singh Dhillon, representing the accused, told the court that there is not even an iota of evidence against him, and is being falsely implicated in the case.

  • R-Day violence: Delhi Police arrests accused with Rs 1 lakh bounty from Punjab

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: Special Cell of Delhi Police has arrested one Gurjot Singh, who was wanted in the Red Fort violence case and had a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head, from Amritsar in Punjab.

    “One person namely Gurjot Singh, who was wanted in FIR number 96/21 ( Red Fort case) and a reward of Rs 1 lakh has been declared on his arrest, has been arrested by a team of Northern Region (NR) of special cell from Amritsar, Punjab,” said police.

    A total of 43 different cases were registered with the crime branch, special cell, and local police, and over 150 persons were arrested in connection with various cases relating to Republic Day violence.

    On Republic Day, protestors did not follow the prearranged route and broke barricades to enter Delhi, clashed with police, and vandalised property in several parts of the national capital during the farmers’ tractor rally. They also entered the Red Fort and unfurled their flags from its ramparts.

    Farmers have been protesting at the different borders of the national capital since November 26 against the three newly enacted farm laws: Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

  • Republic Day violence: Police files supplementary charge sheet against Deep Sidhu, others

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Delhi Police on Thursday filed a supplementary charge sheet against actor-activist Deep Sidhu and others in the Republic Day violence case.

    Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gajendra Singh Nagar will pass the order on the point of cognisance of the fresh charge sheet on June 19 at 2 pm.

    “The investigating officer of the case pointed out the names of the witnesses who were severely injured or from whom the weapon was snatched,” the court noted.

    On January 26, protesting farmers clashed with the police during the tractor rally against three farm laws and stormed into the Red Fort injuring scores of policemen.

    The Crime Branch is tasked with investigating the case.

    On May 17, it filed a 3,224-page charge sheet and sought prosecution of 16 accused including Sidhu.

    Sidhu, who was accused of being the key conspirator of the violence, was arrested on February 9.

    The police had also accused him of fuelling the chaos at the Red fort.

  • Republic Day violence: Court asks Delhi health secretary to constitute panel to examine X-ray report of dead farmer

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the Delhi health secretary to constitute a board of experts to examine the X-ray report of a 25-year-old farmer who died after his tractor overturned during the farmers’ protest rally against three agri laws in the national capital on Republic Day.

    Justice Yogesh Khanna also asked the doctors of Maulana Azad Medical College to prepare the X-ray report from the original X-ray plate, which has been received by the Delhi Police from the UPr Police.

    The court said the report be examined by the board comprising medical and forensic experts as also a radiologist among others.

    The board shall be constituted by the secretary of the health department of the Delhi government, the HC said and posted the matter for further hearing on April 14. The court was told that they have shown CCTV footage to the family members and lawyers of the victim Navreet Singh.

    The high court was hearing a plea by deceased Singh’s grandfather Hardeep Singh claiming that the victim suffered gunshot injuries to his head. His post mortem was conducted at Rampur district hospital in UP. However, both the Delhi and UP Police told the court that Navreet did not suffer any gunshot wounds.

    According to the police, the man had died as his tractor overturned at ITO where many farmers participating in the tractor parade had reached from the Ghazipur border after taking a detour off the pre-agreed route for the march.

    The court was informed by Delhi government standing counsel (criminal) Rahul Mehra and advocate Chaitanya Gosain, representing Delhi Police, that they have shown CCTV footage to the family members and lawyers of the victim Navreet Singh.

    The high court had earlier directed the Uttar Pradesh police to provide original X-Ray plate and video of post mortem of the victim to Delhi Police.

    The high court was hearing a plea by deceased Navreet Singh’s grandfather — Hardeep Singh — claiming that the victim suffered gunshot injuries to his head.

    His post mortem was conducted at Rampur district hospital in UP.

    However, both the Delhi and UP Police told the court that Navreet did not suffer any gunshot wounds.

    Delhi Police had earlier told the court that though they have requested the UP Police to give the original X-Ray plate and post mortem video, the officials of Rampur police and hospital denied doing so unless ordered by the court.

    The counsel for UP Police and the CMO of the hospital had said they did not have the X-Ray report but only the X-Ray plate and the post mortem report which they are willing to handover to Delhi Police on the date and time fixed by the court.

    She had said the original post mortem and inquest reports have already been handed over to the Delhi Police.

    Advocate Vrinda Grover, representing the petitioner, had sought a copy of the X-Ray report and post mortem and inquest reports and Delhi Police had consented to it.

    Delhi Police had earlier said that according to the post-mortem report the young farmer died due to a head injury as a result of the accident and all his injuries were possible in a road accident.

    The petition, also filed through advocate Soutik Banerjee, has sought a court-monitored SIT probe into the death of the young farmer.

    Delhi Police has relied upon the footage collected from CCTV cameras located at the site — Deen Dayal Upadhyay marg — where the young farmer died and said that he was driving the tractor at high speed and the vehicle overturned after hitting the barricades.

    It had said that the footage also shows that the police personnel were running away for safety from the speeding tractor and that none of them fired upon the vehicle or the driver.

    Delhi Police has also said that CCTV footage further indicates that the protestors did not take the injured Navreet Singh to any nearby hospital and instead they attacked the ambulances that reached the site after hearing about the accident.

    It had said that the protestors instead of taking him to the hospital immediately, kept his body on the road for five hours and then spread rumours that he was killed in police firing.

    The UP police, in its status report, had stated that no FIR has been registered by it in connection with the death as claimed by the petitioner.

    The petitioner’s counsel had earlier contended that the way Delhi Police has conducted itself in the matter “does not inspire a shred of confidence”.

    She had argued that this indicated that the victim lost control of the tractor and it overturned as he was shot by the police personnel.

    According to the police, the man had died as his tractor overturned at ITO where many farmers participating in the tractor parade had reached from the Ghazipur border after taking a detour of the pre-agreed route for the march.

    The police had claimed that the man was driving the tractor and he came under the vehicle as it overturned.

    Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at the Delhi border points — Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur — for over three months, demanding the repeal of new farm laws and a legal guarantee on the minimum support price(MSP) for their crops.

    The protesting farmers clashed with the police in the national capital on January 26 during a tractor parade to highlight their demands.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • Violent acts don’t come under right to protest, says Delhi court

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  A Delhi court has said that the riot which broke out on Republic Day during farmers’ tractor parade was violent and none of the act of the rioters/protesters comes within the purview of democratic right of protest.

    The right to protest means the right to peaceful protest and not to resort to violence of any kind, even on provocation, it observed while granting bail to a 19-year-old youth in a case related to the violence. Additional Sessions Judge Samar Vishal granted bail to Sumit on Thursday on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 25,000 with one surety of like amount in the case of violence in Nangloi area.

    However, he stated that the guilt or innocence of the applicant is a matter of trial and nothing can be said about it at this stage. The relief was granted after the police said he has not been seen committing violence in any video footage. The court noted that out of the 20 accused arrested in the case, 19 have already been released on bail.

    “The riot which broke out on that day was violent and none of the act of the rioters/ protesters comes within the purview of democratic right of protest. Right to protest means right to peaceful protest and not to resort to violence of any kind even on provocation,” the court said. “The facts portrayed by the prosecution shows that the acts of the protesters/rioters cannot be condoned. However, the guilt or innocence of the applicant is a matter of trial and nothing can be said about it at this stage,” it said. 

  • Samyukta Kisan Morcha seeks judicial probe into Republic Day violence

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: The Samyukt Kisan Morcha on Friday sought a judicial probe into the violence that occurred on January 26 in Delhi during a tractor parade held by protesting farmers demanding the repeal of the Centre’s three contentious agriculture laws.

    “We demand a high-level judicial probe into the incident that happened on January 26 where a peaceful ‘kisan parade’ was intentionally disrupted and the route was blocked under a deep-rooted conspiracy hatched by the Delhi Police at the instance of Union government,” Morcha’s legal panel convener Prem Singh Bhangu said here.

    The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) is an umbrella body of 41 farmer unions protesting the farm laws.

    The SKM’s legal panel also denounced the alleged repressive measures and violation of human rights by the Centre and the Delhi Police to foil the “peaceful” agitation of farmers at the borders of Delhi.

    Bhangu along with other members of the legal panel demanded immediate release of the farmers lodged in different jails of Delhi and withdrawal of “false cases” registered against farm leaders and farmers.

    The panel also demanded scrapping of notices being issued to farmers in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttrakhand “under the garb of joining investigation with intention to implicate them in false cases”.

    More than 20 FIRs have been registered against suspected and unidentified persons in which police are intending to involve innocent people by issuing notices, Bhangu said.

    The legal penal called upon the farmers not to be afraid of the notices and repressive measures being taken by police and not to join the investigation and also not to respond to the notices.

    Bhangu said as on Friday, 125 farmers out of 151 have been released on bail and others are likely to be released as their bail applications are pending for hearing.

    The tractors and other vehicles which were illegally retained by police need to be released as early as early possible, he said.

    The legal panel is also considering to initiate legal action against police officers responsible for torture and causing injuries to farmers, Bhangu said.

    A tractor march meant to highlight farmers’ demands was dissolved into anarchy on the streets of the national capital on January 26 as hordes of rampaging protesters broke through barriers, fought with police, overturned vehicles and delivered a national insult — hoisting a religious flag from the rampart of Red Fort, a privilege reserved for India’s Tricolour.

    Tens of thousands of protesters had clashed with police at multiple places, which led to chaos at well-known landmarks of Delhi and suburbs, amid waves of violence that ebbed and flowed through the day, leaving the farmers’ two-month peaceful movement in tatters.

    Farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at several Delhi border points, including Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur, since November 28, demanding a complete repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee on the minimum support price for their crops even as the Centre claimed that these were for the benefits of the farming community.

  • Police supposed to collect evidence for true picture, says court on Deep Sidhu’s plea

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Police is not supposed to collect evidence only to prove the guilt of the accused but also to bring forth a true picture, a Delhi court said on Friday while directing a probe on the plea by actor-activist Deep Sidhu who claimed he was not an “instigator” of the Red Fort violence on the Republic Day during farmers’ tractor parade against the Centre’s three new agri laws.

    The court added however that appropriate action may be taken and relevant sections added to the charges if Sidhu was trying to mislead the investigation by fabricating false evidence.

    “IO (investigating officer) is duty bound to conduct proper investigation in the matter in a fair and impartial manner. He is not supposed to collect the evidence only to prove the guilt of the accused, rather he has to bring the true picture before the court,” Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gajender Singh Nagar said in his order.

    The court was hearing Sidhu’s plea seeking directions to the police to include all videos and other material on record which allegedly proved his innocence and conduct a fair and impartial investigation in the case.

    During the hearing, advocate Abhishek Gupta, appearing for Sidhu, told the court that Sidhu was not an instigator of the incident at Red Fort, as alleged by the police.

    “There is no video of him calling the people to gather at Red Fort. He did not indulge in any kind of violence taking place at Red Fort. He was only a peaceful protestor,” Gupta claimed.

    He further claimed that Sidhu was staying at a hotel in Murthal from where he checked out at 12 pm on February 26 and left for Delhi only after checking out.

    “The CCTV footage of the hotel, which was in working condition, checkout bill showing the time/ payment details, as online payment was made, be obtained to ascertain this. Further, the car navigation system installed in the Ford Endeavor car used by him which is in police possession would also show the route taken by him to reach from Murthal to Red Fort along with timings and time taken in the same,” he submitted.

    Sidhu reached the area around Red Fort only around 2 pm, which can be proven by his phone location and by that time a huge crowd has already gathered at the spot, Gupta said.

    He claimed there was CCTV footage of the Red Fort in which Sidhu can be seen helping the police by requesting the crowd to leave the rampart where they were trying to hoist the flag.

    The plea also alleged that the police has chosen not to check the evidence which completely belies the case thrusted upon the applicant/accused (Sidhu).

    “Further, the CCTV footage of the Red Fort is already with the investigating agency which shows that the applicant/accused did not participate in any act of violence and rather he was helping the police in pacifying the crowd.”

    “Applicant/accused is apprehensive that the CCTV footage and the video will also not be considered by the police (CCTV footage of Red Fort from 10.00 AM to 4.00 PM). The applicant/accused has not committed any offence as alleged in the FIR and if the said record is not called, preserved and made part of the record, then it will be difficult for the applicant/accused to prove his innocence, further the ends justice would not be met,” it claimed.

    Additional Public Prosecutor Rajiv Kamboj, appearing for the police, opposed Sidhu’s plea saying the accused cannot guide the police to conduct investigation in a particular manner.

    “Police is duty bound to conduct fair and impartial investigation. However, accused cannot be allowed to divert the investigation of the police from its path. By moving the present application, accused is trying to guide the investigation being done by the police,” the public prosecutor claimed.

    The court had on February 23 sent Sidhu to judicial custody in the case.

    Police had earlier alleged he was one of the main instigators of the violent incidents at the Red Fort.

    Tens of thousands of protesting farmers clashed with the police in the national capital on January 26 during a tractor parade to highlight their demands.

    Many of them driving tractors reached the Red Fort and entered the monument, where a religious flag was also hoisted.

    Over 500 police personnel were injured and one protestor died.

    In the FIR registered in connection with the Red Fort violence, police alleged two magazines with 20 live cartridges were snatched from two constables by protestors who also damaged vehicles and robbed anti-riot gear.

  • Republic Day violence: Media house denies in Delhi HC any offensive reporting against Sikh community

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A media house has denied before the Delhi High Court the allegations of indulging in “offensive and potentially fatal” attack on the Sikh community by airing on its channel unverified videos regarding the Republic Day protest by farmers against new agri laws.

    In an affidavit filed in the high court, it has claimed that “not even a single assertion was made in relation to the Sikh community”.

    The affidavit has been filed in response to one of two PILs which have alleged that the media house “concocted”, “offensive and potentially fatal” attack on the Sikh community by circulating unverified videos regarding the Republic Day protest by farmers on its news platform.

    The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has also filed its response to one of the two PILs, saying it is the responsibility of the channel owner to ensure that a programme telecast on TV does not violate the Programme Code prescribed under the Cable Television Networks (CTN) Rules.

    “Whenever a violation of the Programme Code is brought to the notice of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, appropriate action is taken as per the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act,” said the affidavit, filed through central government standing counsel Ajay Digpaul.

    The ministry said it has also set up an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) to look into specific complaints regarding violation of the code.

    The affidavits of the ministry and the media house have been filed in response to the plea moved by Rajya Sabha MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa claiming that the “vicious campaign directed against a particular community at a time when public sentiments are flared up could result in disastrous consequences, including endangering the lives, property and liberty of members of that community”.

    A similar plea was moved by Delhi resident Manjit Singh G K contending that “allegations as made out in the said videos are absolutely untrue, baseless and a concoction of phantom imagination which bears no nexus to facts, whatsoever”.

    Denying the allegations against it, the media house has claimed that the plea by Dhindsa was an attempt to “impose fetters or stifle the reporting of the press”. It has also alleged that the petition was a “political gimmick to gain political mileage”.

    Referring to the CTN Act and Rules, the media house said, “There is a complete mechanism in relation to the regulation of the content of news broadcast in India. There is no further requirement of any additional legal structure or legislation in this regard.”

    It has also contended that the petitioner has not approached the appropriate body, News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA), with any grievance before coming to the court.

  • Republic Day violence: Key accused dares cops to arrest him

    Express News Service
    CHANDIGARH:  Wanted gangster-turned-activist Lakha Sidhana, a key accused in the Red Fort violence, on Tuesday attended the farmers’ rally at the ancestral village of Punjab CM Amarinder Singh in Bathinda and challenged the Delhi Police to arrest him. He also exhorted the people not to allow Delhi Police to arrest youths involved in the Republic Day incidents.

    Addressing a rally in Mehraj, Sidhana told the people to gherao the Delhi Police personnel who attempted to arrest the youths.

    “The Union government was arresting the people of Punjab and announcing rewards on those aiding their arrest.” 

    He also requested the Dalit community to participate in the protest. During the rally, Sidhana was seated on the stage. The organisers dared the police to arrest him. After the rally, he sped away on a motorcycle. 

    The grandfather of farmer Navreet Singh, who died in Delhi on January 26, and a relative of Harbhagwan Singh, who had died in the Behbal Kalan firing, were also present at the rally, besides AAP MLA Kultar Singh Sandhawa and Yudhvir Manak, son of Punjabi singer Kuldeep Manak.

    The Delhi Police have announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for information about Sidhana. He had on Saturday released a video urging Punjab’s youth to attend the farmers’ rally in Mehraj.

    Meanwhile, Delhi Police has arrested two more persons, including a prominent farmer leader, from Jammu for their alleged involvement in the Red Fort violence. Jammu and Kashmir United Kisan Front chairman Mohinder Singh and Mandeep Singh, were brought to Delhi for questioning.