Cops, govt have failed to ensure public safety in Delhi: Supreme Court

Delhi women’s safety under SC scanner after ‘deeply disturbing’ crimes against girls

NEW DELHI: In view of a “series of deeply disturbing” egregious crimes against girls and women in Delhi, Supreme Court Monday said it was a systemic failure on the part of Delhi govt and police that they can’t provide a safe and secure environment to the public, which is their basic fundamental right, and sought an explanation from the authorities.Referring to the gang rape of a 17-year-old girl at Aastha Kunj Park, the gang rape and murder of a girl in Swaroop Nagar, and the sexual assault of a girl inside a moving bus that covered a distance of over 47km from Greater Noida to Delhi, SC said that these have raised serious concerns about the safety and security of public spaces in and around the city, and took suo motu cognisance and registered a case. “The right to live with dignity, free from the fear of violence, is an intrinsic facet of the fundamental guarantee of life and personal liberty enshrined under Article 21 of Constitution,” a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Chandran said.

“Public spaces, including parks, roads, buses, Metro stations, subways, foot bridges, etc, cannot be permitted to become zones of high risk due to grossly inadequate illumination, poor surveillance, lax patrolling, or other preventable administrative deficiencies,” it said.