Stand-off between Delhi and H.P. police forces triggers political row in hill State

After a dramatic 24 hours, the stand-off between the police teams of Delhi and Himachal Pradesh came to an end on Thursday morning when the Delhi police team was cleared to head back to the national capital along with the three Indian Youth Congress (IYC) activists it had arrested from Shimla on Wednesday in connection with the “shirts off” protest at the India AI Impact Summit last week.

The stand-off sparked a political row in the hill State, with Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu terming Delhi Police’s action “an attempt to undermine the sovereignty of the State”. “If without informing and taking permission from the State, any person is picked up (arrested), is that legal?” Mr. Sukhu told The Hindu over phone.

BJP leaders, led by Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, submitted a memorandum to Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla alleging “serious constitutional crisis in the State and misuse of the police machinery”. They demanded a probe into the incident by the Centre and an investigation into the role of the Chief Minister’s Office.

Dismissing the allegations levelled by the Opposition party, Mr. Sukhu said, “Our action was taken in accordance with the legal rights granted to States under the Constitution of the country.”

Meanwhile, Chief Judicial Magistrate Mridul Gupta of the Patiala House Courts remanded the three arrested persons – Saurav, Arbaaz, and Siddharth – in three-day police custody on Thursday afternoon. The trio will be produced in court on completion of their remand on March 1.

The court also extended the police remand by three days of two other accused, Ajay Kumar and Raja Gujar, arrested earlier and produced in court on Thursday on completion of their three-day police custody.