New Delhi:
The Supreme Court has sternly pulled up the government and Delhi Police for the midnight crackdown in June last year at yoga teacher Baba Ramdev's Ramlila ground rally, saying the incident could have been avoided by more patient handling by the state. The court has also found Baba Ramdev guilty of negligence.
Baba Ramdev's rally on June 4 and 5 last year, was held to protest against what he called the government's inaction on the black money issue. Thousands of the yoga guru's followers were at the grounds when the Delhi Police swooped down to evict the Baba. Some of Baba Ramdev's followers retaliated. A woman, Rajbala, was among 30 people badly injured and she died later in hospital.
The Supreme Court had taken suo motu note of media reports purportedly showing the brutality of police action against Baba Ramdev's followers, including women and children, many of whom were reportedly sleeping at the time of the crackdown. The Supreme Court said today that a sleeping congregation can't be called an unlawful assembly. It has sought action against both policemen and Baba Ramdev's followers who indulged in violence.
Here are the top 10 developments today:1) The Supreme Court has held that the police acted in undue haste and that police restrictions at the Ramlila grounds on the day of the incident were unreasonable and unwarranted. The state, it has observed, could have avoided the clash by exercising patience. It has reprimanded the police for failing to establish an emergency situation.
2) In its stinging indictment, the court has said this is a glaring example of a trust deficit between the people governing and the people being governed.
(Read: Top five excerpts of Supreme Court's verdict)3) The court has held Baba Ramdev guilty of negligence for not maintaining law and order at his rally. It has said that taking permission to hold such demonstrations is not irrelevant, which has been Baba Ramdev's contention. It said the organisers should have "ensured and done their lawful duty..." and that "It was expected of Ramdev, who enjoyed stature among his followers to ask followers to disperse peacefully."
4) The Supreme Court has directed the Delhi Police to register cases against police officials who indulged in destruction of public property and attacked the sleeping crowd. It has ordered disciplinary action against those police officials "who have exceeded the limit" and those who "didn't help to rescue the injured."
5) The court has also ordered the booking of cases against all those, including Baba Ramdev's disciples, who indulged in violence.
6) It has ordered the Delhi Police to investigate the incident within three months.
7) The court has observed that the real sufferer on that day was the public. The incident, the court said, was an assault on basic rights enshrined in the Constitution. It has ordered Rs 5 lakh in compensation for victim Rajbala's next of kin. It has also ordered Rs 50,000 for those were grievously injured and Rs 25,000 for those with slight injuries. The court has ordered that 25 per cent of this compensation must come from Baba Ramdev's trust.
8) Delhi Police has said that the Supreme Court has upheld its powers to regulate dharnas; in future, it has said, every person to whom permission is granted for a dharna will have to give an undertaking that lawful orders passed to him are carried out. Delhi Police chief B K Gupta said he would abide by today's court order and take disciplinary action against cops found to have used force. Criminal cases would be registered against members of the public and policemen as ordered.
The police chief said there was no order for a lathicharge at 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.
9) Reacting to the court order, Baba Ramdev said, "With respect to why I didn't explain to the public to calm down, you were all 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 do lathi-charge on you, do not retaliate."
10) Congress leader and Union Minister Ambika Soni said the government would study the Supreme Court order for the part that applies to the Delhi Police and take lessons from it. She, however, added that the court "has also made some observations about Baba Ramdev that he was negligent about the crowd and was not able to control it and because of which the Delhi Police had to interrupt the situation."
The BJP will not miss an opportunity and held Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union ministers P Chidambaram and Kapil Sibal "accountable" for the incident. "Such an attack on peaceful supporters of Ramdev would not have been possible without political clearance at a very high level. The policemen have suffered, but what about political accountability?" BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad asked.
Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari hit right back saying, "The BJP has the habit of giving comments on every issue. Today's verdict hasn't commented on Home Ministry or the Government. If the BJP disagrees with Supreme Court's decision, they are free to challenge it."