Delhi HC Seeks Police Status Report on Plea for Protection, Probe in Parvesh Verma ‘Slapgate’ Case

A single-judge Bench of Justice Sachin Datta issued notice on the petition, which seeks protection of the petitioner's life and liberty, preservation of CCTV footage and other electronic evidence, and an independent investigation into allegations of assault, threats and police inaction.

The Delhi Police opposed the petition's maintainability and sought its dismissal on that ground. The High Court, however, directed the police to submit a status report and scheduled the matter for further hearing on November 17.

The petitioner has sought protection from any threat to his life and liberty and asked that CCTV footage and other electronic material from the locations concerned between September 25 and September 30 be preserved. He has expressed apprehension that the evidence could otherwise be overwritten or lost.

According to the petition, the complainant approached the Commissioner of Police on September 29 seeking registration of an FIR, legal action and protection. He has alleged that no effective action was taken despite his complaint.

The petition seeks an investigation into the allegations against Verma and his associates and has requested that the probe be handed over to an independent investigating team or agency that is not connected with police personnel against whom allegations have been made.

It also seeks the formation of an independent judicially supervised inquiry committee headed by a former Delhi High Court judge. The proposed committee would examine the complaints, CCTV footage, electronic evidence and police records and submit a time-bound report to the High Court.

The petition was filed following an alleged altercation during Verma's inspection of a road in Tilak Nagar in West Delhi. Verma, who also holds the Public Works Department portfolio, was inspecting the road when the alleged incident occurred.

The petitioner, Sahib Singh, claimed he had accompanied an AAP MLA to inspect the road's quality after receiving a call. He alleged that while he was recording the inspection, Verma pushed down his mobile phone and slapped him before moving behind police and security personnel.

A video of the incident shows Verma pulling down Singh's phone with his left hand while Singh was recording. Verma then appears to slap Singh with his right hand, following which a scuffle broke out and a security guard intervened between the two.

Verma has defended his conduct, alleging that Singh had abused his family members and that he reacted to the alleged remarks. Singh has denied the allegation.

A day after the incident, Singh demanded Verma's resignation and registration of an FIR, questioning his suitability to continue as Deputy Chief Minister.

Singh had also claimed that the entire incident was captured on video and that the footage would establish what happened. He said he had been livestreaming the inspection on Jarnail Singh's Instagram page when it happened.

Singh further said he was prepared to accept the allegations against him if evidence showed he had used abusive or disrespectful language. He maintained that he had not made any inappropriate remarks and said he was willing to apologise if evidence established otherwise.