Memoir (year 1994) carried from the facebook wall of H P S Virk, a retired DCP of Delhi Police . He was also incharge of Supreme Court of India’s security.
—————————————-
SAGACIOUS SUPREME COURT MOVE FOR TOKEN PUNISHMENT TO A POLITICIAN PLUS HIS SMOOTH TRANSIT TO PENETENTIARY OF TIHAR.
Contempt case against Kalyan Singh ex- CM, Uttar Pradesh arrived at its final pronouncement of judgement at Supreme Court of INDIA.
He had filed a affidavit in SCI, as CM that he will not allow damage to mosque at Ayodhya, but frenzied “karsevaks” demolished it on morning of 6th December 1992,
Mandarins at Police Hqs. were worried about anticipated breakdown of L&O on account of an harsh proclamation by the Apex court.
Legal luminaries at SCI, informed me that they don’t want to entangle pious judiciary in prevailing murky politics of religion.
As such they subscribed giving an insignificant sentence merely as an symbolic stamping to illegality of UP politics.
Police Hqs. heaved a sigh of relief on hearing about trending posture from the highest portal of Indian judiciary.
On the dawn of judgement day, members of press and audio- visual media armed with sophisticated gadgetry eagerly awaited dissemination of an “explosive breaking news”.
The local, national and international members of press corps made a beeline for my office, expecting to know the latest sequence of events.
I too kept adding to their impatience, beating about the bush, but without revealing the real truth.
There was an heavy armed police deployment in plain clothes inside SCI premises and in uniform outside on Bhagwan Das, Mathura road and Tilak marg.
No one got an inkling of our well planned “conspiracy” which was unfolding within the court compound.
The Registrar (admn.) LC Bhaddo called me in his office for delivering the court order for incarcerating Kalyan Singh for one day at Tihar jail.
I declined to be the delivery person pointblank, since it was beyond my jurisdiction, which did not extend beyond the perimeter of SCI.
SHO Tilak Marg PS was hastily summoned for serving of court orders, being the appropriate police authority.
Taking SCI orders he sped off to UP bhawan on Copernicus marg, and soon picked up Kalyan Singh for transportation to Tihar under suitable police escort.
Within minutes this news spread like prairie wild fire, with TV and press personnel began dispersing helter-skelter in a state of utter confusion.
A few daring among these personnel confronted, accusing me of shattering their sacrosanct trust.
Sometime later got an urgent message from DG Tihar Jail Kiran Bedi to connect with her posthaste.
She wanted to find out what was the duration of “one day sentence”, requesting me to clarify this directly from the mouth of Chief Justice of India.
Picking up courage approached CJI for this simple clarification getting an expected reprimanding answer, “It is for your learned Kiran Bedi to consult elaborate jail manual for this specific answer.”
Thus such an consequential event passed off peacefully without esclating into any major law and order problem.
The over enthusiastic members of fourth estate, I am sure must have taken to task by their highly expectant top bosses, on failing to elicit timely information for converting it into sizzling “breaking news.”
(Anecdote two decades old, related to tenure at SC, India)
