The Supreme Court on Sunday said petitioners alleging violations of its directions on metro and train services in Delhi had made out a prima facie case for contempt, and issued notices to senior officials of the Union government, Delhi Police and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).
A bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana issued notices to Union home secretary Govind Mohan, Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar and DMRC chairperson D Thara, directing them to file replies and a compliance report by 13 October. The court dispensed with their personal appearance for the time being.
“Having considered the submissions of the counsel for the parties and perused the averments in the contempt petition, we are of the opinion that the petitioners have made out a prima-facie case,” the bench said.
The contempt petitioners have alleged that authorities violated the Supreme Court’s 9 October order on maintaining metro and train services amid protests called by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and student organisations against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the functioning of the Election Commission.
One of the pleas, filed by advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi, alleged that the actions of the Delhi Metro, Delhi Police and the Union government amounted to a deliberate disregard of the court’s directions and infringed citizens’ fundamental rights.
On Friday, a bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justices Bagchi and Mohana, had directed the Centre to ensure there was no “complete prohibition” on the movement of metro services and trains coming to Delhi on 10 October because of the protests.
The court had said law-enforcement agencies could take steps to restrict unruly movement but cautioned that citizens should not be unduly harassed.
According to a Delhi Metro advisory, 45 metro stations were closed from 9 pm on Friday until 6 pm on Saturday for security reasons.
The contempt petition alleged that despite the court’s directions and assurances given before it, authorities maintained a blanket shutdown across transit corridors, continued train cancellations and failed to issue transparent traffic and transit advisories.
The Supreme Court has sought responses from the officials by 13 October. Its observation that the petitioners had made out a prima facie case does not amount to a final finding of contempt.