New Delhi:
Coming down heavily on the State and Delhi Police, the Supreme Court today ordered prosecution of police personnel involved in the midnight crackdown on yoga guru Ramdev and his supporters in June last year, saying it was a strike at the foundation of democracy.
"It was a reflection of the might of the State which struck at the foundation of democracy," a bench of justices B S Chauhan and Swatanter Kumar said, while reading out the operative part of the judgement.
(Read the full judgement)Dubbing the incident as a case of police excess, the court directed criminal prosecution of police personnel.
"Disciplinary action will be taken against the cops... criminal cases shall be registered against policemen under Section 173 of the CrPC," Delhi Police Commissioner BK Gupta said.
He also said that a probe into the incident would be completed and a report would be filed within three months.
The police chief said there was no order for a lathicharge at the Ramlila Maidan that day and the police would investigate if any individual had resorted to one. He insisted that Baba Ramdev had been asked to leave the maidan peacefully that day.
The Delhi Police's statement came after the top court said earlier that the police who are meant to bring peace had themselves breached the peace.
The bench said that the policemen had assaulted victims who were sleeping. There was abuse of power by the Delhi Police and fundamental rights of people were violated, the bench said. It further observed that the police and the state could have avoided the tragic incident in which one person died and several others were injured.
Observing that it was a "glaring example of trust deficit" between the people and the government, the court also blamed Ramdev, who was on an anti-corruption fast along with his followers at Ramlilla Maidan, for the violence.
Blaming both Ramdev and the Delhi Police, the court also directed action against Ramdev's supporters who had behaved violently during the incident. It added that a person of the stature of Ramdev was expected to urge his supporters to leave the ground. He is bound by legal and moral obligations, it said.
"With respect to why I didn't explain to the public to calm down, you all were present there that day. I spent almost half an hour explaining to all the public present there that nobody will fight with the police, nobody will raise their hands on them. Even if the police lathi-charges you, do not retaliate," the yoga guru said in his defence.
While welcoming the court's observations, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) expressed surprise over Baba Ramdev being called negligent, saying that they differed with the apex court on this point.