The head constable contends that he has been in poor health for three years following a stroke and was extremely unwell the day the video was filmed. (Representational image)
New Delhi:
Nearly 8 months after a cellphone video clip, titled "Drunk Delhi Police on Delhi metro" went viral and made headlines, the policemen in question has moved Supreme Court seeking redressal. Head Constable PK Salim contends that he has been in poor health for three years following a stroke and was extremely unwell the day the video was filmed.
The petition he filed in court says the stroke he suffered in 2012 had led to a brain haemorrhage. Since then, he suffered frequent seizures, had partial paralysis on the left side of his body and had problems with communication.
On the day the video was taken, he had fallen ill at work and was on his way home. On the train, he was finding it difficult to even locate the door of the compartment. When the train stopped, he lost his balance and fell on the floor, the petition read.
This sequence was captured on a cellphone by one of the passengers and was widely circulated on social media last August, projecting him as a policeman drunk on duty.
Within days, he was suspended and a departmental inquiry was initiated against him, the petition read. The suspension was revoked after he submitted his medical documents. But in the intervening two months, his wife suffered a heart attack and he had to live under acute humiliation.
Though the petition seeks compensation, Mr Salim's counsel Wils Matthews said the family primarily wants the media to publish the real story.
"The family is in a very miserable condition," he said. "When the video had gone viral last year, his school-going son had to suffer a lot of teasing from his classmates. Even today, when the media is publishing the right story, the fact that his father's photo in such a condition is being put out again has disturbed him a lot."
Mr Salim joined the Delhi Police in 1986 as a constable, and has served for 29 years. He suffered the stroke when he was deputed on special security duty with then chief minister Sheila Dikshit. He is currently posted at the police district lines in Outer Delhi, mostly doing a desk job.
The petition he filed in court says the stroke he suffered in 2012 had led to a brain haemorrhage. Since then, he suffered frequent seizures, had partial paralysis on the left side of his body and had problems with communication.
On the day the video was taken, he had fallen ill at work and was on his way home. On the train, he was finding it difficult to even locate the door of the compartment. When the train stopped, he lost his balance and fell on the floor, the petition read.
This sequence was captured on a cellphone by one of the passengers and was widely circulated on social media last August, projecting him as a policeman drunk on duty.
Within days, he was suspended and a departmental inquiry was initiated against him, the petition read. The suspension was revoked after he submitted his medical documents. But in the intervening two months, his wife suffered a heart attack and he had to live under acute humiliation.
Though the petition seeks compensation, Mr Salim's counsel Wils Matthews said the family primarily wants the media to publish the real story.
"The family is in a very miserable condition," he said. "When the video had gone viral last year, his school-going son had to suffer a lot of teasing from his classmates. Even today, when the media is publishing the right story, the fact that his father's photo in such a condition is being put out again has disturbed him a lot."
Mr Salim joined the Delhi Police in 1986 as a constable, and has served for 29 years. He suffered the stroke when he was deputed on special security duty with then chief minister Sheila Dikshit. He is currently posted at the police district lines in Outer Delhi, mostly doing a desk job.
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