ACP Manasvi Vashishtha, who led the protest outside Delhi Police Headquarters on Monday, has been suspended.
Delhi Police has told news agency PTI about the suspension.
This action has taken place after the protest in which several dozen Delhi Police officers, including ACP Vashishtha, gathered outside the police headquarters on Monday after the recent transfer to Gandhi Nagar.
He wanted to meet Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar regarding the recent confrontation with lawyers in East Delhi's Shahdara.
ACP Vashishtha and Station House Officer (SHO) of Shahdara police station Arun Kumar were transferred. This transfer took place in the case of attack on lawyer Lalit Bansal. The lawyers of the city had started an indefinite strike against the police action.
The lawyers who went on strike last week had alleged that the ACP and SHO had threatened the lawyers who had reached the police station demanding action against the accused in the case of attack on Bansal.
Leading the protest on Monday, Vashishtha said that his demand is to meet the Police Commissioner.
"Our demands are clear. We have to meet the Police Commissioner Sahib. There should be a standard operating procedure (SOP) to deal with such cases. If this happens to us, how will we fight for the safety of the people of the city," Vashishtha said amid slogans of 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' and 'Police Unity Zindabad' on Monday.
On Monday, a group of about 100 policemen and women policemen had demonstrated outside the police headquarters. After this they entered the headquarters and sat on strike there in an unprecedented manner.
Shocked by this, senior officers told them not to behave like protesters. The policemen were protesting against the transfer of two officers.
This video clip of the conversation between policemen is going viral on social media. Reposting this video, well-known fact checker Mohammad Zubair has written on Twitter, "Hopefully Neha Bora will support and join this protest against Delhi Police officers."
In response to this post of Zubair, Neha Bora has written, "I wonder that if you protest in support of Delhi Police, against Delhi Police itself, and that too in an area where Delhi Police has imposed Section 163, will you be taken into custody?"
A former commissioner of Delhi Police told the English daily 'The Telegraph' published from Kolkata, "This is the first time that we have seen policemen coming inside the headquarters and openly protesting on the premises."
Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) leaders and opposition leaders took a dig at this dramatic confrontation between the policemen.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra posted on Instagram, "Hello Delhi Police, I am in Bengal, otherwise I would have joined this police vs police protest today. How funny!”
He wrote, “Today which group of Delhi Police is being lathicharged and being taken in Khatara buses to the detention camp of Delhi Cantt? Tell us, we will send them food from Swiggy."
CJP co-convenor Saurav Das posted, "Will these policemen be forced to sign a peace bond on charges of disturbing peace?"
The protesters, mostly policemen from the North-Eastern district, started gathering outside the police headquarters at around 8 in the morning. This area is just two kilometers away from Parliament and protests are not allowed here.
The protesters were holding placards demanding cancellation of the transfers of North-Eastern District Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Manasvi Vashishtha and Shahdara police station SHO Inspector Arun Kumar.
His own colleagues stopped him at the gate of the headquarters. During this time, security was increased around the police headquarters.
ACP Vashishtha, who was leading the protest, indicated that the lawyers were responsible for the alleged violence.
He said, “If we are not safe inside the police stations, how can we ensure the safety of others? If we don't get justice, how will we get justice for others?” His protesting colleagues applauded.
New Delhi Deputy Commissioner of Police Sachin Sharma reached the spot. He appealed to the protesters to maintain discipline and "not behave like protesters". He asked the policemen to come inside and talk.
At around 1.30 pm, the protesters entered the buildings and sat on strike. They were raising slogans in support of police unity. He ignored the orders of senior officers, due to which the officers were put in an uncomfortable situation.
According to Telegraph, Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar and all the special police commissioners also reached the headquarters and called the protesters for talks. This meeting named 'Sampark Sabha' started at around 5.30 pm.
During the meeting, policemen from other districts also started reaching the headquarters.
Both the officers were transferred on October 28. This order came five days after the confrontation that took place at Shahdara police station on October 23. A lawyer reportedly suffered head injuries in this confrontation.
The lawyers had alleged that a senior police officer "waved a loaded revolver" and "threatened" them. After this, the lawyers of the district courts went on an indefinite strike. He ended the strike only after the announcement of transfer of both the officers.
Generally, Delhi Police personnel cannot hold public demonstrations against their superiors regarding disciplinary action, pay, transfers or working conditions in the same way as ordinary citizens can.
They can challenge decisions through prescribed grievance redressal procedures and legal means, but their right to organize public demonstrations is limited under a specific law and rules.
The main law related to this is the Police-Force (Restriction of Rights) Act, 1966. According to the India Code, this law came into force in Delhi on December 3, 1966. Its purpose is to impose restrictions on some fundamental rights of policemen, so that discipline is maintained and they can discharge their duties properly.
However, there is a limited exception to this. A meeting convened by an authorized organization for the purpose of furthering the approved goals of that organization and which is held on issues related to service conditions may fall within the scope of this exception. But this does not mean that general permission has been given to demonstrate on the streets.
