New Delhi: Unmanned barricades on roads serve no purpose and cause harassment to the public, the Delhi High Court said on Tuesday and asked the Delhi Police to submit the protocol it followed for placing barricades across the Capital.
Significantly, the high court took suo motu cognizance of a letter written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which was in turn sent to the Delhi High Court for taking action against the placement of unmanned barricades on several roads at locations all over south Delhi.
The issue raised by Om Prakash Goel (who wrote the letter) requires consideration since these unmanned barricades on roads prima facie serve no purpose and indeed cause inconvenience and harassment to the public at large. Such barricades also have been used to set up kiosks and for parking vehicles," said a bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh, of the Delhi High Court.
The court issued notices to the Commissioner of Delhi Police, Delhi government, the Centre, through the Ministry of Home Affairs, and South Delhi Municipal Corporation through its Commissioner and listed the matter for further hearing on April 13.
The respondents (authorities) shall file their respective status reports before the next date of hearing. Delhi Police shall place on record the protocol that they follow in relation to setting up of barricades in the city, if any, the bench said.
A PIL was registered by the court while taking cognizance of the December 10, 2021 letter by Goel, who claims to be the president of Delhi
Pradeshik Aggarwal Sammelan, to the Prime Minister which has in turn been sent to the court.
He raised grievances relating to the setting up of unmanned barricades in Kalkaji and CR Park police station areas in south Delhi and circulated several media reports on the issue.
His grievance is that these barricades serve no purpose and lead to blockades of free flow of traffic, causing misery and harassment to vehicle owners and the general public and leading to long traffic jams and hold-ups.
Importantly, even in several areas of Lajpat Nagar and Kailash Colony, several unmanned barricades are often noted on the main road — which remain in place even during peak traffic hours — contributing to considerable traffic snarls.
While some of these barricaded points do have police officers or security personnel present, no vehicles are physically checked by them even as the barricades continue to restrict traffic.