Home Ministry suspends Delhi Police officer who led protest outside headquarters

The Union Home Ministry has suspended a Delhi Police assistant commissioner who led a rare protest by police personnel outside the force's headquarters, in a dispute with lawyers that has now drawn in the police leadership, the bar and the Delhi High Court. Assistant Commissioner of Police Manasvi Vashishta was suspended "with immediate effect", ThePrint reported, for what The Quint described as a "violation of discipline".

The suspension order is dated 2 November and was issued under Rule 10 of the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965, on the ground that departmental proceedings are contemplated, according to a PTI report carried by the Millennium Post. It requires Vashishta, a 2019-batch officer of the Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Police Service (DANIPS), to stay in Delhi and not leave the city without permission. Vashishta said the suspension had not weakened his resolve and that he expected a fair inquiry, PTI reported.

The protest

On Monday, police personnel gathered outside Police Headquarters in New Delhi with placards, demanding that Vashishta and the Shahdara station house officer, Inspector Arun Kumar, be reinstated in their posts. Both had been transferred on 28 October. Reports of the numbers differ: ThePrint put the group at nearly 80, PTI at about 150 including women personnel, and The Indian Express, as cited by The Quint, said about 100 grew to around 500 by the time a delegation met senior officers. The protest lasted more than 10 hours, The Quint reported.

"If we are not safe inside the police stations, how can we ensure the safety of others?" Vashishta said, according to ThePrint. A delegation presented five demands to Commissioner Anurag Kumar, including action against lawyers involved in the Shahdara confrontation and a grievance redressal mechanism. A senior officer told ThePrint: "We are a disciplined force and a demonstration of this nature is looked down upon."

After the protest, the commissioner held a Sampark Sabha, a grievance meeting, at headquarters. A Delhi Police statement said he had assured "prompt and appropriate actions", and announced a joint coordination committee with bar representatives at district and headquarters level, attention to promotions, housing and other service matters, and regular Sampark Sabhas in all districts and units, ThePrint reported.

How it began

The dispute started at Shahdara police station on 23 October, after an advocate suffered a serious head injury in an alleged assault and an FIR was registered. According to the Coordination Committee of All District Courts Bar Associations of Delhi, lawyers who went to the station were assured the accused would be arrested, but found the next day that they had been released. The lawyers allege that the two officers threatened them during a later visit and that Vashishta made derogatory remarks about advocates. The police version is that lawyers misbehaved with officers and tried to pressure the investigation, The Quint reported. Neither account has been tested in any inquiry.

District court lawyers went on an indefinite strike over the case and called it off only after the two officers were transferred, ThePrint reported. The Central Delhi Court Bar Association has demanded criminal proceedings and an independent inquiry against the officer, and the withdrawal of his firearm. The Delhi High Court declined to take up the alleged remarks on its own and asked lawyers to file a formal petition, The Quint reported.

Background and what next

Delhi Police reports to the Union Home Ministry, not the Delhi government. The episode recalls November 2019, when more than 2,000 police personnel and their families protested outside the old headquarters after clashes with lawyers at the Tis Hazari court complex. The departmental proceedings against Vashishta have not yet begun, and no date has been set for any High Court hearing.