New Delhi, Oct 3 (PTI) Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday said the withdrawal of a prohibitory order imposed in the city by the Delhi Police was a “victory” of the people, especially Hindu devotees. Delhi Police earlier in the day informed the Supreme Court that the order prohibiting the assembly of five or more persons in the city, from September 30 to October 5, was “withdrawn”.
In a press conference, AAP leader and Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj claimed that the order had sparked “outrage” among Hindu devotees concerned about Navratri programmes like temple visits, Jagaran and religious processions in the coming days.
The nine-day Navratri celebrations began on Thursday.
“This is a moment of triumph for the people of Delhi, especially for the Hindu devotees, who were worried about how they would celebrate the festival,” said the AAP leader.
The minister said that withdrawal of the order was also a “defeat” of the Lt Governor under whom the Delhi Police worked.
“This is an embarrassing defeat for the Lieutenant Governor. The Central government and its lawyers knew that such absurd orders cannot be implemented in a sovereign, free country,” he said.
The prohibitory order was challenged in the court by the Kalkaji temple priest and during the hearing, the solicitor general representing the Centre informed that it was revoked, Bharadwaj said.
He also slammed the BJP and the RSS for not speaking against the order despite claiming to be “defenders of Hinduism”.
According to a police officer, the order ceased on the intervening night of October 2 and 3. The scrapped order imposed Section 163 (which was earlier Section 144 of CrPC) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita in the districts of New Delhi, North and Central and all the police stations bordering other states.
It was imposed on the ground that the general atmosphere in Delhi was “sensitive from a law and order point of view” due to various issues including the Waqf Amendment Bill, the MCD standing committee election and pending DUSU poll results. PTI VIT HIG
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