Delhi Court orders FIR against Arvind Kejriwal for illegal hoardings

A Delhi Court on Tuesday ordered Delhi Police to register a First Information Report (FIR) against former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and others on a complaint alleging defacement of public property..Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Neha Mittal passed the order on a complaint moved by one Shiv Kumar Saxena (complainant) alleging offence under Section 3 of the Delhi Prevention Of Defacement Of Property Act, 2007.The judge ordered Delhi Police to file a compliance report on March 18, the next date of hearing. "The seriousness of the offence punishable under Section 3 of DPDP Act 2007 can be gauged from the fact that it is not only an eyesore and public nuisance thereby destroying the aesthetic sense of the city but is also hazardous and dangerous to the smooth flow of traffic by distracting traffic and poses a safety challenge to the pedestrians and vehicles. Deaths caused by collapse of illegal hoardings are not new in India," the Court observed..The complaint accused Kejriwal and others of putting illegal hoardings in Dwarka in 2019. The police had earlier failed to act on the complaint, prompting Saxena to move the magisterial court.Opposing the plea, the Delhi Police told the Court that the complaint was filed in 2019 and at present, no such hoardings are displayed at the alleged spot and hence, no cognizable offence was made out.The police also said that details of printing press were not mentioned on the hoardings and hence, it would be impossible to determine from where they were printed and at whose instance.Interestingly, the police also argued that the complainant had mentioned the names of about 8-10 persons as accused including Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the complaint filed by him before the police station but most of the names were omitted from the application filed in the court..Considering the submissions, the Court noted that the act of hanging a banner board or affixing hoardings amounts to defacement of property.Since the complainant had placed on record the photographs with date and time stamp to show that hoardings were illegally put up, the Court said, "The complainant has prima facie shown that cognizable offence has been committed."On why the police investigation was necessary in the matter, the Court opined that it would be unfair to expect the complainant to bring forth the evidence regarding the person responsible for putting up the hoardings."It is only the investigating agency which can be expected to come up with something substantial after thorough investigation. This court does not find any merit in the arguments advanced by Ld. APP for the state that it is impossible to collect any evidence at this stage due to lapse of time and non-availability of any particulars of the printing press," the Judge added..Further, the judge said the police statement that no hoardings were found on the date of enquiry appears to be an attempt by the investigating agency to hoodwink the Court. She also rejected the argument that names of many persons were omitted by the complainant."The mentioning or omitting the name of certain persons by the complainant cannot determine the course of investigation. The investigating agency has ample power to array any person as accused, though not named as an accused in the present application/complaint, whose complicity in the commission of offence is established from the investigation. Similarly, the persons named by the complainant can be placed in column no. 12 of the charge-sheet or final report can be filed against them if no evidence is found against them after investigation.".Consequently, the Court ordered the police to register an FIR under Section 3 of Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, 2007 and any other offence that appears to have been committed from the facts of the case..Advocate Sowjhanya Shankaran represented the complainant.[Read Order]