The Delhi High Court today has issued notice to the Centre and the Delhi Police, and sought their response in a plea seeking compensation for the injuries sustained by a student of Jamia Millia Islamia College, Delhi during the police violence on 15 December 2019.
A division bench comprising of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar was hearing a petition filed by one Nabila Hasan, who sought compensation of Rs 2 crore for injuries sustained by a student named Shayyan Mujeeb, during 15 December violence at the university, after the protest against Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019, turned violent. The petitioner alleged that the student, Shayyan has fractured both his legs, as a result of the police violence and that he had already spent over Rs 2.5 Lakh on the medical treatment.
Prior to issuing the notice, the bench took a strong objection against the petitioner for approaching the Court under its Article 226 jurisdiction of the Indian Constitution.
“Why are you not filing a suit? Everyone is filing a writ petition. It is a fashion in Delhi to file a writ petition,” contended the bench.
However, the petitioner stated that the police has not lodged FIR even upon the complaints filed by the students and further observed that in a previous case involving similar facts, the court had issued notices to the other party.
“It’s not that we don’t have powers under Article 226, but such extraordinary powers need to be exercised carefully. Freestyle arguments in a writ petition could be dangerous and nothing can be proved by an annexure unless the other side agrees,” added the bench.
Subsequently, the court told the Petitioner that “If no FIR has been lodged, then they may also move the Magistrate under section 156(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code.”
The court also dismissed the demand for interim compensation by the petitioner and stated that ‘How do we calculate the compensation without appreciating the facts and evidence. You can ask for any amount, but we need to first look into the facts.’
Further, the petitioner highlighted a CCTV footage which has recently surfaced on the internet, and contended that it clearly establishes the alleged instance of police brutality inside the college library on 15 December.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police, who had initially denied having ever entered the library, has, however on Sunday said that they were “verifying” the video, and that it appeared to have been “edited”.
The matter has been scheduled for the next hearing on May 27.
