The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed Delhi Police to ensure that shopkeepers and vendors in the Sadar Bazar area strictly follow COVID-19 guidelines and protocols.

The direction of the Delhi High Court came while hearing a plea seeking direction to take necessary legal action against the Delhi police officials for violating the COVID-19 guidelines on duty themselves and for not implementing COVID-19 guidelines in society even after many orders passed by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA).

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The bench of Justice Rekha Palli adjourned the matter for January 2022 and asked the petitioner to implead as a party to police personnel allegedly violating covid guidelines and misbehaving with the petitioner.

Petitioner Shalen Bhardwaj, practicing advocate, stated that on August 9 around 1 am, two police personnel posted in Sadar Bazar Police station during patrolling on a government bike without wearing a mask and helmet misbehaved with the petitioner and his relative and allegedly used derogatory words.

The plea stated, “The said police personnel not only has violated the provisions of Cr.P.C. but also defamed the petitioner in the eyes of his relative, land, and resident. Further by misusing the police power and section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), he extended the threat to the petitioner to falsely implicate him in false cases, his said act does not come under the discharge of his official police duty.”

The plea further seeks direction from all other local authorities concerned, to take necessary measures for the management of COVID-19, failing which the officers concerned should be made personally responsible for any laxity in strict enforcement of COVID appropriate behaviour.

It also seeks direction to respondents to proceed against each police officer and those who are found without a mask on duty in photographs and videos provided by the petitioner or not properly wearing a mask and violating the measures passed in guidelines and order of MHA, Delhi Government and to punish them and submit their action taken report in the High Court.