New Delhi, July 29: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a petition seeking the removal of Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Sandeep Lamba from supervising an investigation into an alleged case of police excess, observing that an officer’s reputation cannot be judged or tarnished solely on the basis of a viral video circulating on social media.
The matter was heard by Justice Girish Kathpalia while considering a plea filed by a 68-year-old woman who alleged that she was forcibly evicted from her residence during Ramadan last year and unlawfully detained overnight by the Delhi Police.
The petitioner submitted that she had lost confidence in Additional DCP Sandeep Lamba’s ability to conduct a fair and impartial investigation, citing a recently circulated viral video in which the officer was allegedly seen slapping a woman protester during demonstrations at Jantar Mantar.
Rejecting the contention, Justice Kathpalia observed that courts cannot draw conclusions merely on the basis of short video clips shared on social media platforms.
“Just because he was caught in some video allegedly slapping a lady, we cannot tarnish him. Are we aware of the ground realities? How the crowd would have entered the Parliament and firing would have started and so many would have died?” the judge remarked during the hearing.
The Court further observed that law enforcement personnel often face highly challenging and volatile situations while handling public protests, and isolated video footage cannot automatically be treated as conclusive evidence to question an officer’s integrity, impartiality, or competence in an ongoing investigation.
After hearing the arguments, the Delhi High Court declined to interfere with the existing investigation and refused to direct the removal of Additional DCP Sandeep Lamba from supervising the probe.
The case relates to allegations by the elderly petitioner that she was subjected to police excesses after being forcibly removed from her home during Ramadan and illegally detained overnight. However, the Court held that the recent viral video involving the police officer was not sufficient grounds to justify his removal from the investigation.(KNC)
