HC Contempt notices to DGPs of Punjab and Haryana and also to IGP Chandigarh Police-for not deploying female Police Constables in State Transport Vehicles-for preventing eve-teasing:- Justice Harinder Singh Sidhu today issued contempt notices for 23.3.2015 to (i) Sumesh Singh Saini, DGP, Punjab: (ii) Sriniwas Vashisht,DGP, Haryana, and Rajender P. Upadhyaya, IG Police, Chandigarh-in a Contempt petition filed by Advocate H.C. Arora-appearing in person, for deliberate non-compliance with directions issued by Apex Court on 30.11.2012 in the case titled “Deputy Inspector General of Police v. S. Samuthiram”, and reiterated by a Division Bench of the HC in its decision dated 2.4.2013 in a bunch of cases, including “Court on its own motion v. State of Punjab and others”, on issue of preventing and dealing with incidents of crime against women, and those of eve-teasing. The petitioner has submitted in the Contempt petition that the Apex Court in its judgment dated 30.11.2012 had, inter-alia, issued a direction that “ All the State Governments and Union Territories are directed to depute plain clothed female police officers in the precincts of bus-stands and stops, railway stations, metro stations, cinema theatres, shopping malls, parks, beaches, public service vehicles, places of worship etc. so as to monitor and supervise incidents of eve-teasing.” Subsequently, a division Bench of HC had reiaterated the above directions by observing that “States of Punjab, Haryana and Union Territory, Chandigarh to follow such directions in letter and spirit.” The petitioner has stated that he had filed applications under RTI in offices of the three respondents, to know as to wether aforesaid directions of Apex Court and HC were being complied with or not, and he was informed that instructions have been issued to SSPs etc to ensure deployment of plain-clothed female Police officers in Buses. The petitioner, however, got a clue from the incident in Rohtak on 24.11.2014 when two sisters Aarti and Pooja, had to face alleged molestation at the hands of three persons, while travelling in a Haryana Roadways Bus, from Rohtak to Sonepat. No female police personnel were deployed in the Haryana Roadways Bus in which the aforesaid shocking incident take place, nor any CCTV camera was installed in the Public Transport Vehicle. In these circumstances, the petitioner, along with his colleague advocates, Shri J.S. Rana, and Shri Ankit Chauhan visited Sector-17 and Sector-43 , Chandigarh Bus Stands, and talked to Conductors and Drivers of one dozen Buses of Punjab Roadways/ Pepsu Roadways Transport Corporation, Haryana Roadways, and Chandigarh Transport Undertaking Buses, which were having passengers, and were just to leave from the aforesaid Bus Stands for their respective destinations in Punjab, Haryana, and within Chandigarh itself. The petitioner came to know that no plain-clothed Police Constables were deployed in any of these Buses. The Drivers and Conductors of all those Buses told the petitioner, that such deployment of Policemen/women was never made in the recent years in their Buses. The staff at Bus Adda, Sector-43, Chandigarh informed the petitioner that there was no deployment of Policemen/women in any of the Buses leaving from the said Bus Stand. The petitioner has also got done video-recording of entire conversation with Bus Drivers/Conductors. Thus, it is clear that respondents have not made any deployment of Polic personnel in the Public Transport Buses within their respective jurisdictions, and have thus, committed contempt of the orders issued by the Hon’ble Court.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 09:30:14 +0000
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