The Delhi High Court today directed the city government and the police to "put into operation" at the earliest the mechanism evolved by them to deal with emergent situations at observation homes for juveniles.
A bench of justices Ravindra Bhat and Vibhu Bakhru passed the order after the Department of Women and Child Development (WCD) and Delhi Police submitted a joint affidavit stating the mechanism devised by them.
According to the affidavit, the Principal Secretary of WCD Department and Commissioner of Police (CP) had a meeting on July 7 where it was decided to appoint a Joint CP of Special Police Unit for Women and Children (SPUWAC) as nodal officer to hold meetings with Secretary of WCD Department to discuss issues related to juvenile homes.
It was also decided at the meeting that in order to deal with emergent situations, the officer-in-charge of the observation home shall contact the ACP, Command Room, Police Control Room for taking action including deployment of force to deal with the emergency, the affidavit said.
During the hearing, it was clarified by the police that ACP, Command Room need only be contacted when the Joint CP is not available when an emergent situation arises in a juvenile home.
The joint affidavit also stated that regarding the issue of deputing Delhi Police staff, including an ACP rank officer, to WCD department, the Principal Secretary shall first send a formal request in this regard to CP outlining the job wise requirement.
The bench, however, said the department has already sent a request for officers to be deputed and directed Delhi Police to undertake the exercise within four weeks.
"You (Delhi police) have to finalise the terms and conditions of the deputation," the court added and listed the matter for further hearing on August 20.
The affidavit was filed after the court on May 29 had asked CP and Delhi government to re-examine the proposal for appointing a senior-level police official as a nodal officer to coordinate with the WCD department in relation to safety and security of juvenile homes.
