Court orders police action on lawyer’s assault

The Delhi High Court Thursday directed the Delhi government to ensure that a police complaint was lodged under appropriate provisions over an alleged assault on a lawyer in south Delhi the day before.

Family members of Sanjeev R. Vashisht, 38, alleged that he was was beaten up badly Wednesday near Bhagat Singh College by goons linked to the land mafia.

Vashisht, who was fighting a property related case against the land mafia in a trial court, was brought to court on a stretcher by his mother and brother.

The division bench of Acting Chief Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice R.S. Endlaw directed Pawan Sharma, government’s standing counsel, to look into the matter and get a proper complaint registered against accused.

The victim’s brother Sanjeev Vashisht alleged that officials at Malviya Nagar police station lodged a first information report (FIR) under minor sections of the penal law under the influence of the land mafia.

No arrests had been made despite the victim naming two people, he said.

The police “deliberately lodged the case of simple injury, wrongful restraint and criminal intimidation against the accused, while we sought registration of attempt to murder case”, Vashisht said.

The family of the victim alleged that the court had provided protection to the victim in its earlier order despite which police had not taken action against the land mafia.