Court asks police to explain imposition of prohibitory order

A court here today asked Delhi Police to explain the circumstances that forced it to clamp prohibitory order which was allegedly violated by Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party members during their protest last year and further investigate the three cases against them.
Referring to a Supreme Court judgement which was critical of midnight crackdown on supporters of Yoga Guru Ramdev at Ramlila Maidan, the Delhi court said the issue relates to the "duty of the state to maintain law and order and the right of the citizens to move freely within the territory of India and their rights to express themselves by protesting against the government" and asked the police to file a report within two months.

"In my view, the views expressed in the aforesaid judgement and order make it imperative for the state to explain the circumstances under which ACP Bhoop Singh had passed the order under section 144 of CrPC on August 6, 2012 and to disclose if the said order was part of a series of repetitive orders," Metropolitan Magistrate Jay Thareja said in his five-page order.
The court asked the police to probe further the entire incident during the protests on the coal block allocation issue and fixed the matter for further hearing on June 26.
Kejriwal and his supporters, who were protesting Jantar Mantar on August 26 last year, had allegedly violated the prohibitory orders by marching towards the residences of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and then BJP President Nitin Gadkari.

Three separate FIRs have been lodged against 26 persons, including Kejriwal, for various offences including rioting and unlawful assembly during their protests.