Delhi violence: SC refuses to entertain pleas, terms violence ‘unfortunate’

NEW DELHI: Expressing concern and anguish over violence in Delhi which claimed lives of 20 people, the Supreme Court questioned Centre for not allowing police to discharge their job professionally.The bench comprising justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph, while referring to the incidents of violence said the situation could have been avoided if police had timely interfered and taken action against people making provocative speeches.The bench while terming violence in Delhi, "unfortunate" urged all political parties and stake holders to maintain calm and peace.SC, however, said that it will not expand the scope of petitions filed in connection with the protests at Shaheen Bagh by looking into the pleas on violence."What happened is very unfortunate and it should not have happened. But we do not want to expand the ambit of Shaheen Bagh case and people can seek remedy by filing separate petition," SC said.SC also said that environment is not conducive to hear plea against Shaheen Bagh protest and deferred the hearing for a month.The bench said that it's high time that SC verdict in Prakash Singh case be implemented to make police more effective and professional to deal with the situation arising in Delhi in the last few days.Police doesn't have to wait for orders if someone makes inflammatory statements but act in accordance with law, the court said.SC also allowed senior advocates Sanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran to continue to talk to Shaheen Bagh protesters and persuade them to vacate the public road.