Police Action Arbitrary, Ramdev didn't Cooperate: Supreme Court
New Delhi, Feb 23 (Agencies): The Supreme Court Thursday slammed Delhi Police for acting in an arbitrary manner and using excessive force in disbursing Baba Ramdev and his followers from the Ramlila ground here last year. It also pulled up the yoga guru for not cooperating with police.
The court said what happened at the sprawling ground on the night of June 4-5, leading to the death of a woman, was a demonstration of the might of the state.
Judges B.S. Chauhan and Swatanter Kumar pulled up Baba Ramdev for not cooperating with police and asking his followers to disburse only after police imposed prohibitory orders banning the assembly of people.
The Supreme Court castigated the Delhi Police and yoga guru Ramdev for the Ramlila Maidan incident and said it was a "glaring example of trust deficit" between the people and the government.
"It is a glaring example of trust deficit between the people governing and the people being governed," the bench said, adding that police action is meant to bring peace but they breached peace themselves.
The bench said that incident showed might of the state which struck at the foundation of democracy. There was abuse of power by the Delhi Police and fundamental rights of people were violated, the bench said.
The bench further observed that the police and the state could have avoided that tragic incident in which one person died and several others were injured.
The apex court blamed both Ramdev and the Delhi Police for the midnight crackdown at Ramlila Maidan last year and directed criminal prosecution of police personnel and Ramdev's supporters who had behaved violently during the incident.
The court said the essence of Section 144 is to prevent breach of peace and not to breach the peace. The people at Ramlila ground were sleeping and they were not a violent crowd, it was observed.
The court has awarded an ad hoc compensation of Rs.5 lakh to the next of kin of Haryana resident Rajbala who suffered spinal injuries and died.
The court has also awarded compensation of Rs.50,000 to all those who suffered grievous injuries and Rs.25,000 to others injured that night.
The court directed Baba Ramdev's trust to bear 25 percent cost of the compensation.