High Court directs Delhi Police, college authorities to ensure presence of police force prior functions

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued a directive to both the Delhi Police and college authorities to ensure the availability of proper police force prior to the organisation of festivals or functions within educational institutions.

A division bench consisting of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula said that the responsibility for ensuring the safety of students during these functions lies with the Delhi Police.

The court's directions came in a public interest litigation (PIL) that had sought an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into alleged incidents of molestation and sexual misconduct that occurred within Delhi University's Gargi College in 2020.

Incidents of molestation and sexual misconduct took place during Gargi College's annual cultural fest, "Reverie 2020," on February 6, 2020.

The plea claimed that these incidents were carried out as part of a planned conspiracy by political parties in order to gain an advantage in the Delhi elections.

Delhi Government's counsel, Nandita Rao, informed the court that the Delhi Police had filed an untraced report in the matter as the girls involved were unable to identify the individuals involved in the acts of sexual harassment from the CCTV footage.

She said that some of the affected girls chose not to provide statements due to moving on with their lives.

The initial arrests made by the Police also faced challenges, as the arrested individuals could not be positively identified by the girl students.

The court took note of the fact that although the girl students reported instances of molestation, no individual could be positively identified and none of the girls specifically implicated anyone.

The matter is currently scheduled for consideration by the relevant Metropolitan Magistrate of Saket Courts on August 23.

In light of this situation and to prevent similar unfortunate incidents, the court directed the Commissioner of Police to ensure the availability of proper police force before any such function is held.

“In order to avoid such unfortunate incidents, the Commissioner of Police is directed to ensure that before holding any such function, proper police force is made availabe,” the court said.

The directive aims to enhance security measures and safeguard students during such events.