Ensure peaceful, dignified Eid in Uttam Nagar: Delhi HC tells police

The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the city police and administration to ensure a conducive atmosphere for peaceful, dignified observance of Eid in Uttam Nagar where a 26-year-old man was killed in a clash on Holi.

A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia said the police bandobast in the area should be such that it instils a sense of safety and security in all.

The bench directed the authorities to ensure that no one plays any mischief that has the potential to create any “untoward situation”.

It clarified that the police arrangements in the area shall continue till the upcoming festival of Ram Navami.

The order was passed on a PIL filed by a civil rights group, the Association for Protection of Civil Rights, which approached the Delhi High Court on Wednesday to prevent “imminent communal violence” on Eid in Uttam Nagar.

The court said Eid is a festival to rejoice and it is the duty of all authorities to ensure that on such a “pious occasion”, public life is not disrupted by any untoward incident.

“We thus direct the police and civil administration of the area to take all required action, permissible under law, to ensure that the situation does not take any ugly turn and an atmosphere is created conducive to peaceful and dignified observance of the festival of Eid, which is likely to be tomorrow,” the court ordered.

“Police bandobast to be made should be such as will instil a sense of safety and security in all. The authority shall also ensure that no one from any section of the society is permitted to play any kind of mischief, having the potential of creating any untoward situation,” it further said.

The police counsel assured that adequate police personnel and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) have been deployed in the area since March 5.

Several people, including a minor, have been apprehended in connection with the death of the 26-year-old man in a clash between two neighbouring families with long-standing disputes during Holi celebrations in southwest Delhi’s Uttam Nagar.