Quirky Justice: Delhi HC tells 24 people involved in stone-pelting to clean police stations

In a recent decision by the Delhi High Court, two legal complaints related to a stone-pelting dispute between neighbors over property have been dismissed with direction that all 24 individuals involved in the dispute will perform basic cleaning duties at four police stations of Delhi. Justice Saurabh Banerjee issued this order on September 15, following an agreement reached between the two parties. The disagreement between these parties led to them filing FIRs against each other under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the Mehrauli Police Station in July of this year. The court has granted the requests to dismiss these FIRs while also instructing the 24 individuals involved to organize themselves into four groups, each comprising six people. These groups will be responsible for carrying out basic cleaning tasks at three different police stations for a total of three days. The cleaning activities are scheduled for Monday, Thursday, and Sunday of this week at the following police stations: Mehrauli, Fatehpur Beri, Maidan Garhi, and Neb Sarai. It is important to note that the quality of the cleaning work must meet the satisfaction of the respective investigating officer, as directed by the court. Furthermore, the court has given the parties the freedom to decide amongst themselves how to form these groups and which police station they will be assigned to for their cleaning duties. The court also commended the efforts of all 24 parties involved in this case for their willingness to reach a resolution. According to the details of the case, the neighbors had a physical altercation during which they allegedly threw stones at each other. As a result, the police had initially filed charges under Section 308 of the IPC, which pertains to an attempt to commit a serious crime. Advocates Vipin Sehrawat, Aakash Godara, and Manoj Godara represented the petitioners in the two legal petitions. On the other side, Additional Standing Counsel Rupali Bandhopadhya, along with advocates Akshay Kumar and Abhijeet Kumar, represented the State.