Departmental enquiry has been initiated against seven policemen for dereliction of duty in connection with the sensational December 16 gangrape case, the ministry of home affairs informed the Delhi high court on Thursday.
“Departmental enquiry has been initiated against as many as seven police personnel, including staff of a PCR van who were on duty on December 16, 2012,” Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Rajeeve Mehra, appearing for the Union home ministry, informed the high court which had taken suo motu cognisance of the horrifying incident in which a 23-year-old woman was brutally gangraped in a moving bus here.
A bench of Chief Justice D. Murugesan and Justice Jayant Nath had earlier directed the MHA to file an affidavit giving details of the departmental action taken against policemen manning the PCR van in the area where the incident had happened.
Informing the bench that communication has been sent to the Delhi police commissioner in this regard, the ASG sought more time for the government to act upon the recommendations of Justice Usha Mehra Commission, constituted to look into various issues relating to safety of women in Delhi.
The Delhi police also informed the bench that it has taken initiatives to train its personnel on gender sensitisation and crime against women.
The counsel for Delhi police submitted before the bench the Police Calendar 2013, showing how the agency intends to go about imparting the training.
The court recorded the submission of special public prosecutor Dayan Krishnan that as per the police calendar, training on gender sensitisation will be imparted to personnel from constable to inspector levels for five days every month.
One day in each of the next three months will be allocated for training on issues related to crime against women.
During the previous hearing, the high court had asked the Delhi police to file a report on the training imparted to its officials after it was pointed out that some police officials acted in an insensitive manner during the investigation of the rape of a minor in April.
Meanwhile, the proceedings in the December 16 gangrape case before the fast-track court here could not take place on Thursday as one of the accused, Pawan Gupta, could not be brought to the court due to ill-health.