NEW DELHI: CPM Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas on Sunday wrote to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and President Droupadi Murmu, Rajya Sabha Chairman CP Radhakrishnan alleging that he was assaulted by Delhi Police personnel while speaking to the media during protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. He sought urgent intervention, an independent investigation and accountability, alleging a breach of parliamentary privilege.Brittas said the incident took place while he was exercising his democratic duty and interacting with the press.“While peacefully interacting with journalists in connection with the ongoing democratic protests demanding the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner, Shri Gyanesh Kumar, I was forcibly dragged away, bodily lifted by police personnel, assaulted inside a police vehicle and subsequently abandoned on the roadside. The incident raises grave questions concerning personal liberty, the right to peaceful expression, police accountability and compliance with the constitutional safeguards that this Hon’ble Court has time and again upheld and reaffirmed through its authoritative judgments,” he said in his letter.“The Government cannot intimidate democracy into silence. It cannot deploy the police as an instrument of political retaliation. It cannot substitute the force of the baton for the force of argument. And it cannot expect the people to surrender their constitutional freedoms merely because those in power find dissent inconvenient. Articles 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(b) of the Constitution protect freedom of speech and peaceful assembly, while Article 21 safeguards life and personal liberty. Any restraint or detention must have a lawful basis, and any use of force must be necessary, lawful and proportionate. The brutal assault, the circumstances in which I was taken away, and the manner in which I was released demand urgent scrutiny under these constitutional guarantees and the applicable laws and Rules governing police conduct and detention,” he added.Brittas also wrote separate letters to President Murmu and vice president, Rajya Sabha chair CP Radhakrishnan, while refering to Supreme Court directions. “The police atrocities raises serious questions under Articles 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(b) of the Constitution, which protect freedom of speech and peaceful assembly, and Article 21, which safeguards life and personal liberty,” he wrote in letter to the president.Meanwhile, addressing the Rajya Sabha chair, he cited “authoritative publication Rajya Sabha at Work” and said, “The matter, however, extends beyond the personal indignity and physical harm inflicted upon me. It raises a question of privilege and of the dignity and authority of the Rajya Sabha itself. I do not contend that membership of Parliament confers immunity from law. My submission is that the forcible manhandling and assault of a sitting Member, in circumstances where I was peacefully discharging my role as a public representative and had repeatedly identified myself, must be considered in the light of established parliamentary precedents concerning the treatment of Members by law-enforcement authorities,”The allegations came amid a fresh round of protests in the national capital on Sunday, when more than 200 demonstrators were detained as they attempted to march towards Jantar Mantar. The INDIA bloc is set to hold a march on Monday, with opposition leaders stepping up their criticism of the police action.The protests followed a security clampdown on Saturday, when thousands of demonstrators and several opposition leaders were detained as police prevented them from reaching Jantar Mantar. More than 30,000 police and paramilitary personnel were deployed across the capital as part of the security arrangements.
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The demonstrations have been called by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) and backed by opposition parties seeking Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities in the functioning of the Election Commission and the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The allegations have been denied by officials.
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