Delhi Police Suspend ACP Manasvi Vashishtha Day After Protest Over Shahdara Transfer Row

Delhi Police suspended ACP Manasvi Vashishtha a day after she joined and led a protest outside the force’s headquarters over the transfer of two officers.

Around 150 Delhi Police personnel, including women officers, gathered outside Police Headquarters on Jai Singh Road on Monday demanding that Vashishtha and Shahdara SHO Inspector Arun Kumar be restored to their earlier postings.

The transfers came after a clash between police personnel and lawyers at Shahdara police station in east Delhi. Delhi Police did not issue an immediate official response

Shahdara Transfer Row

The row stems from an October 23 incident at Shahdara police station. During a scuffle there, advocate Lalit Bansal allegedly suffered a serious head injury.

The clash escalated into a fresh face-off at the station. Lawyers said ACP Vashishtha and SHO Arun Kumar threatened advocates who had gone there to seek action against those accused of attacking Bansal.

Lawyers responded with an open-ended strike and pressed for action against the two officers. On October 28, Delhi Police moved Vashishtha, then the sub-divisional police officer in Gandhi Nagar, to the Special Police Unit for Women and Children, while Arun Kumar was posted out of Shahdara police station to the security unit.

Protesters' Five Demands

Personnel gathered outside Gate No. 1 of Police Headquarters with placards and raised slogans including “vardi ka apmaan nahi sahenge”.

Vashishtha, who joined the protest, called for a meeting with Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar and a formal process to handle such disputes. “Our demands are clear. We need to meet CP sir. There needs to be an SOP (standard operating procedure) to deal with such matters. If this happens to us, how will we fight to save the people of the city," Vashishtha said on Monday, amid chants of “Bharat Mata Ki Jai" and “Police Ekta Zindabad".

She also raised the issue of safety inside police stations. “We have taken a stand because it is necessary to raise our voice against the hooliganism that the police are facing and the security problems arising inside police stations. Some people are engaging in hooliganism; they are not just our enemies but enemies of society as a whole," she said. Vashishtha added that if police stations themselves were not safe, no place could be safe.

Five Demands Submitted

Vashishtha then led a seven-person delegation to meet Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar after he held a “Sampark Sabha" at headquarters. The group put forward five demands.

The delegation’s first demand was that Vashishtha and Arun Kumar be sent back to their previous posts. It also pressed for action against lawyers accused of taking part in the Shahdara police station clash.

The rest of the list went beyond the transfer row. Personnel wanted a resistance force posted at court complexes to keep order and stop disruptions. They also asked for FIRs when more than five lawyers enter a police station and create trouble, action against lawyers accused of threatening or misbehaving with police personnel outside stations, cancellation of licences in such cases and a chargesheet in the FIR linked to the Shahdara case.

Police Response, Bar Pressure

Delhi Police later issued a statement on the meeting. It said the Commissioner and senior officers heard concerns raised by personnel from different ranks during the Sampark Sabha.

The grievances mainly related to the dignity of the force, respect for the uniform and the need for a structured system to address service matters. “The CP appreciated the professionalism, commitment and discipline demonstrated by the force, particularly the exemplary discharge of law and order duties and successful conduct of the BRICS Summit," the Delhi Police statement said.

The force said the Commissioner assured personnel that their genuine concerns would be addressed through appropriate and timely measures. It also said discussions with various Bar Associations and the Bar Council of Delhi had led to a decision to set up a Joint Coordination Committee at district and Police Headquarters levels.

The Central Delhi Court Bar Association and other lawyers’ bodies had sought Vashishtha’s immediate suspension over her alleged remarks against lawyers.

(With PTI Inputs)