Given the daily protests in the national Capital against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), the National Population Register (NPR), and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), the order triggered apprehensions on Friday night that a crackdown was imminent.
Delhi Police officers have, however, clarified that the order is routine, and is issued periodically.
An identical order was, for example, issued on October 16, 2015, conferring the "powers of detaining authority" upon the Commissioner for the period October 19, 2015 to January 18, 2016. Najeeb Jung was L-G at the time.
Sections mentioned in the order
The January 10 notification speaks of "powers conferred by the sub-section (3) of section 3, read with clause (e) of Section 2 of the National Security Act, 1980".