Row in Parliament Panel Over Alleged Delhi Police Excesses at Jantar Mantar
A heated confrontation broke out in the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs on Tuesday after Opposition members demanded an immediate discussion on alleged police excesses during a July 20 protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.
The committee, chaired by BJP MP Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, was convened to deliberate on the subject of 'Crime Against Children', with officials from four Ministries present for the scheduled proceedings. However, minutes after the meeting commenced at 11 a.m., senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ajay Maken raised a letter he had written earlier, urging the panel to set aside all other agenda items to address what he termed the excessive use of force by the Delhi Police during the youth-led demonstration.
Summarising the letter, Mr. Maken claimed that security personnel had used pellet guns, deployed barricades delivering electric shocks, and carried out lathi-charges against demonstrators at Jantar Mantar. He further alleged that a truck loaded with stones had been parked near the site to falsely implicate protesters, and stated that several police officers operated without name tags while individuals in civilian clothes used lathis against demonstrators.
Mr. Agarwal rejected the request, explaining that the matter was sub judice and could not be entertained by the committee under parliamentary rules. He referred to directions from the Supreme Court, noting that a committee appointed by the apex court is already looking into the issues.
The chairperson's decision drew strong objections from Opposition members, including Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, TMC leader Derek O’Brien, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, and NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule, who maintained that the allegations warranted scrutiny given their public significance.
The disagreement then widened into a broader political clash. BJP MP Tarun Chugh referred to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, arguing that allegations of police excesses from that period were never adequately investigated. Congress member Jai Prakash countered by saying that if state-level matters were to be discussed, alleged fake police encounters under BJP governments, including in Haryana, should also be examined.
Following a shouting match between the members, Mr. Agarwal intervened to restore order and proposed that the panel could later consider discussing a Standard Operating Procedure governing police conduct during protests. Opposition members agreed to the proposal.
