NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Delhi Police and the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to place their responses on record within four weeks in its suo motu proceedings concerning recent rape and sexual assault incidents in Delhi-NCR, orally observing that it was important to prevent crimes rather than taking follow-up action.
A Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran stressed the need for effective preventive measures and continuous monitoring of vulnerable public spaces to ensure the safety of women and children.
The apex court orally remarked that merely putting measures on paper would not be sufficient and said that authorities must take concrete action to prevent crimes.
"We have to work together. We must ensure that every woman in Delhi-NCR should feel safe even at 11 p.m. whether travelling on the roads or the metro," the Justice Pardiwala-led Bench observed.
It further said that the focus should be on preventing crime rather than merely acting after an offence has taken place.
"What is important is to prevent a crime, not what you do after a crime is committed," the top court said, stressing that the police must create fear among "goons and anti-social elements" who are prone to committing such crimes.
The Supreme Court also questioned the Delhi Police on the effectiveness of CCTV surveillance in the absence of continuous monitoring and asked whether there was a mechanism for continuous monitoring of vulnerable areas.
It also questioned the absence of a dedicated "war room" for monitoring and responding to incidents, asking how crime could be prevented without such a mechanism.
"You have to create fear in the mind of a person who is ready to commit a crime," the bench observed, adding that the police were required to instil the fear that committing such offences would have severe consequences.
The proceedings arise from the Supreme Court's suo motu cognisance of a series of disturbing reports of rape and sexual assault across Delhi-NCR. (IANS)
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