Delhi HC Refuses To Shift Probe From Officer Accused Of Slapping Woman Protester, Says ‘Stop Discrediting Institution’

New Delhi, July 29, 2026: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday refused to transfer a court-directed police inquiry from the supervision of Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Sandeep Lamba, who recently came under scrutiny after videos surfaced allegedly showing him slapping a woman during the Chalo Jantar Mantar protest.

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Dismissing the petition as infructuous, Justice Girish Kathpalia observed that allegations against an officer cannot, by themselves, justify removing him from an inquiry without due process.

The Court stressed that if Lamba had committed any wrongdoing, he would face consequences in accordance with the law, but he could not be presumed guilty before a fair trial.

Court Defends Due Process

"You have to be fair. Stop discrediting the institution. Whatever that gentleman has done, he should face consequences. But that doesn't mean you take away from his supervision the entire work," Justice Kathpalia said during the hearing.

When the petitioner's counsel argued that Lamba's alleged act of slapping a woman had created a reasonable apprehension of bias, particularly because the petitioner herself had alleged police excesses, the Court questioned whether such reasoning would cast doubt on the entire Delhi Police. "Entire Delhi Police today is in the dock? Then should they stop registering FIRs?" the judge remarked.

The Court further observed that transferring the inquiry solely because of the allegations against Lamba would amount to holding him guilty without trial. It noted that every officer is entitled to a fair inquiry and that allegations in one incident do not automatically establish bias in every matter handled by that officer.

Referring to the viral video, Justice Kathpalia remarked that the Court could not tarnish an officer's reputation merely because he was seen "allegedly slapping a lady" in a video. He also pointed to the challenges faced by police during large protests, saying many people are unaware of the ground realities.

"How the crowd would have entered the Parliament and firing would have started and so many would have died?" the judge observed while discussing the situation faced by law enforcement.

Inquiry Already Complete

At the outset, the Additional Solicitor General informed the Court that the inquiry had already been completed. According to the submission, the petitioner's statement had been recorded and the inquiry report had been forwarded by the Additional DCP to the competent authority for an appropriate decision. Recording the submission, the Court held that nothing further survived for consideration and dismissed the petition as infructuous.

Even after the order was dictated, the petitioner's counsel sought to continue pressing the plea, arguing that subsequent developments involving Lamba had strengthened the apprehension of bias. However, the Court declined to entertain the request, reiterating that allegations against the officer could not be treated as proof of prejudice in every case.

The petition had sought directions to the Commissioner of Police to remove the inquiry from Lamba's administrative control and assign it to a Deputy Commissioner of Police posted outside North-East Delhi.

The petitioner argued that reports of Lamba allegedly slapping a woman during the recent Chalo Jantar Mantar protest, along with the administrative action taken against him, had created a reasonable apprehension of bias.

She clarified that she was not asking the Court to decide those allegations but maintained that the appearance of fairness was equally important in a court-directed inquiry.

Background Of The Case

The case arose from an earlier petition in which the 68-year-old petitioner alleged that she was illegally detained at Police Station Jafrabad during the intervening night of March 24-25, 2025. She also claimed she had been forcibly removed from her house during Ramadan last year.

Acting on her earlier plea, the High Court had directed an independent police inquiry and ordered the preservation of CCTV footage from the police station.

According to the petitioner, the inquiry was initially sought to be closed without recording her statement or examining key aspects of her complaint.

Following her challenge, the High Court directed that her statement be recorded before the inquiry was concluded. Her statement was subsequently recorded on July 13.

After learning of reports alleging that Lamba had slapped a woman protester during the Jantar Mantar protest, the petitioner approached the Court again, claiming that the incident had eroded her confidence in his impartiality and seeking transfer of the inquiry to another senior officer.

During the hearing, the petitioner's counsel argued that Lamba was seen "violating a woman" by slapping her in public while in uniform and pointed out that administrative action had reportedly been initiated against him.

The Court, however, maintained that the right to protest does not extend to damaging the "seat of sovereignty" and observed that even if there had been an overuse of power in handling the crowd, that alone could not justify branding the officer as biased in every case.

"He is also entitled to fair trial and enquiry. Does that mean in every case he will be biased? Stop discrediting the institution," Justice Kathpalia said.

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Final Decision Pending

The Delhi Police informed the Court that the final decision on the inquiry report would be taken by the competent authority and communicated to the petitioner.

Advocates Sufian Siddiqui, Rakesh Bhugra, Niyazuddin, and Mohammad Mazhar Ahmed of Global Law Chambers appeared for the petitioner.

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