Ink attack on Kejriwal 'clear-cut security lapse': Court

Throwing of ink on Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was a "clear-cut case of security lapse" and Delhi Police did not behave responsibly in protecting him, a city court said today while granting bail to the woman accused in the recent incident.

Noting that Kejriwal was "fortunate enough that liquid contained in the bottle was simply ink", Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Sanjay Kumar Aggarwal said "one may imagine what would have been the situation in case, god forbid, the bottle could have contained some corrosive substance like acid etc, mixed with ink."

"If Chief Minister of Delhi is not safe, one may wonder as to what will be the fate of ordinary prudent citizens of Delhi," he wondered.

"I fail to understand as to how a bottle containing ink could not be detected during frisking. This is a clear-cut case of security lapses on part of police, especially in the circumstances when the public gathering was addressed in a walled stadium and not in an unfenced ground," the judge said.

He, however, enlarged 26-year-old Bhawna Arora on bail on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 10,000 with one surety of the like amount, saying "no useful purpose shall be served by keeping the applicant behind bars".

The police, "it appears, has not taken any lesson from the past. It is highly regrettable that even despite having earlier experiences of such incidents, the police could not behave responsibly to take effective steps for the protection of the Chief Minister and others present at the stage," the court said.

It noted that "security of constitutional authorities is the responsibility of the State and the police should re-look and revisit its system of providing security to them after learning from bad experiences in the past."

The court also said the police should "strengthen and train itself" to tackle such incidents and expressed its displeasure as to "how the bottle containing ink could not be detected during frisking."

During arguments on bail, Arora's counsel Pradeep Rana said it was not right to throw ink on the head of State but it was the sentiment of his client, "a young woman, who despite continuous efforts for bringing to light certain scam before the CM, was not afforded any opportunity by him or his cabinet colleagues."

"She has already got lesson, more than she deserved in the matter and no purpose would be served by keeping her in jail," Rana said while alleging that record has been manipulated by the police only to send her to jail.