Somnath Bharti and AAP’s vigilante justice problem

After a controversy over an alleged spat with a bureaucrat, Delhi law minister and senior AAP leader Somnath Bharti has courted headlines again this time thanks to his vigilante style of delivering justice. According to reports in the Indian Express and the Times of India, the minister arrived in Khirki extension late at night, which is a part of the Malviya Nagar constituency which he represents, and led raids against foreign nationals from Uganda and Nigeria. The charges: residents in the area allege that Africans were running a drugs and prostitution racket in the area. The reports indicated that the minister quarrelled with the police when they turned up and wanted arrests to be made immediately. Shockingly, two African woman nationals were beaten up, forced to give urine samples and held captive inside a taxi for nearly three hours by AAP members. One of the victims told the Indian Express, “They took our urine samples, put some machines on our body and also cavity searched us. We felt humiliated. We kept telling them that we have not consumed drugs…We were taken to the police station and kept there for over four hours…The police was, however, very helpful and asked us not to panic. But those other men were after our lives.”   [caption id=“attachment_1346023” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Bharti arguing with the local police officer. Image courtesy: Ibnlive[/caption] AAP leader Manish Sisodia today sought to defend Bharti’s actions saying that the police had not been acting on the complaints of the people living in the area. The AAP has also asked the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi to suspend the cops in question. Sisodia also denied that reports of the women were beaten up. Prostitution racket or drug abuse fears aside, questions are being raised about the conduct of AAP minister and his ‘volunteers’. While Sisodia has alleged that the police did not listen to the requests of the local citizens for nearly six months and took no action, some point out that what Bharti was in the wrong in this case. “Indeed if there were complaints made by people for so long, there was enough time to for the police to get a search warrant and then do such a raid. During the day - under the Narcotic Drugs and Prohibited Substances Act- a raid without a warrant can only be carried out only by an authorised officer, only if there is reasonable belief of a drug crime,” Karuna Nundy, a Supreme Court advocate, told Firstpost. “At night this police raids without warrants are only allowed when there is indication that the evidence would be otherwise destroyed. These procedures might seem bureaucratic but they are necessary to protect peoples’ life and liberty in this country,” she said. “You can’t have ministers and AAP volunteers conducting raids. Mobs do tend to go out of control which is why we have these procedures,” Nundy said. Some have argued that the minister was a little too overenthusiastic in his actions. Aditya Nigam argues in a piece on Kafila,__“Barging into people’s homes and arresting them without search/ arrest warrants is one such safeguard that has been fought for and established over centuries. No one can be allowed to violate these under any circumstances.” Nigam further argues, points out that when it came to acting out against the so-called ‘criminals’ Bharti should have exercised some restraint. He writes: “Not only did the minister not show the minimum respect that hospitality demands, he in fact gave free expression to his basest prejudices – of racism and xenophobia when he said “they are not like you or me”…Simply because the minister receives complaints from such neighbours – whose attitudes about purity and vice are among other things, structured by their caste position as well – he cannot afford to jump into the act without any thought and reflection.” On the issue of the two African women being attacked, Karuna says that indeed if the allegations were true, it is shocking. “Why did the police not protect them from the AAP volunteers. At the very least there should be an internal inquiry about this incident. Is AAP going to say that in the name of preventing violence against some women, violence against some other women is justified?” Karuna said. Kavitha Krishnan, general secretary for the All India Women’s Progressive Association, pointed out that this incident sets a dangerous precedent. “I have no problem with ministers being active and confronting the police, if of course all the facts have been checked. If the police is shielding suspected culprits, then yes please act. But what Bharti did in this particular case was hugely irresponsible. Even if you have the right intelligence, at least follow the procedure,” Krishnan said. Another issue that was Sisodia ducked questions on was that of racial prejudice. “This kind of vigilantism where he (Bharti) says he will check on every door, will encourage prejudice that all Africans indulge in drugs and prostitution. Not all of them doing this. Most of them are here for medical purposes, some for education, some running businesses,” Krishnan said. Sisodia completely denied the allegations made by the two women and asked the media to provide video footage to prove the incident but questions remain over how the AAP’s volunteers treated them. Incidentally, the law clearly states that no woman can be arrested between 6 pm and 6 am without the presence of a woman police personnel, which seems to have been ignored in this case. “Bharti should be probed for this incident. The fact that the women were beaten up is a serious act of violence against women. He should be removed until details of this incident are cleared,” Krishnan said.