OPINION

Last week the Special Cell of Delhi Police was in the news after a very longtime. In the bygone days when the CBI and the ED did not grab the newspaper headlines, it was the Special cell of Delhi Police which seized the public attention. Albeit for very different reasons.

The Delhi High Court last week reduced the death sentence given to the main accused in the Batla House encounter case to lifeterm. The Batla House encounter was a significant operation conducted by the Special Cell in September 2008 around the Jamia Nagar area of South East Delhi.

The operation was aimed at capturing Yasin Bhatkal, the head of Indian Mujahideen. The operation led to the death of some suspects and the apprehension of others, revealing crucial information about terror networks. However, the Special Cell also lost a very decorated officer inspector Mohan Chand Sharma to the bullets of the terrorists.

Formed in the  1980s, the Special Cell of Delhi Police was initally tasked to counter the activities of Punjab militants. Though its primary mission was to gather intelligence and prevent terror incidents, with the waning of Punjab militancy and rise of Pakistan-sponsored terroprism, Special cell became a major component in countering terrorist activities.

Turbulent times for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) refuses to end. Last week another of its prominent faces, Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate officials. The matter once again related to Delhi Excise scam under which party’s number two Manish Sisodia continues to cool his heels in the Tihar Jail. Party’s another ace Satyender Jain is behind the bars in another money laundering case  

A party, whose one of the mainstays of success and survival has been creating favourable perceptions on the social media, once again did well to overcome the setback last week by pushing a suitable narrative to cover up the arrest -- it was not be a mere coincidence that the Supreme Court observations in Manish Sisodia’s bail argument, which suited AAP, got more coverage than Sanjay Singh’s arrest.

While hearing the bail plea of former Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia last week, the apex court remarked that the inferences in the case against Manish Sisodia seemed to be based on hearsay and will fall flat in two minutes. While the newspapers went to town with court’s observation, not many reported the government’s counter. Additional Solicitor General SV Raju responded to question from the bench saying, “Question is, is he not directly or indirectly involved in illegal activity or process? ... When you make a policy that triggers bribes which acts as proceeds of crimes.”

About 100 kilometers from Bhubaneswar in the midst of Odia hinterland, a quiet social revolution is taking place. The place is Jajpur, an industrial hub, developed by the Odisha government in an attempt to cultivate a prototype of the legendary steel city of Jamshedpur in Jharkhand. It’s a dusty and bumpy road which takes one to Jajpur

Despite the roads, Jajpur has been a success story with big brands like Tata Steel and Jindal Stainless finding firm footing in the forested area, not just making steel but initiating a social revolution. The social revolution one is talking about is not the one which is ordinarily associated with corporate social responsibility but in the core areas of production and marketing.

Not undermining the role played by the self-help groups promoted by these consortia under the CSR activities, but what should actually be bringing laurels to these companies is the role women are playing on the shop floors of the hot and cold steel rolling mills. A quick employee survey of the Jindal Stainless at Jajpur reveals that of the 136 women employees, 74 are engineers and of them 50 work on the shop floor.

For celebrated writer VS Naipaul, fame first came with the publication of his novel, ‘A House for Mr Biswas’. Wanting to write a copy on the Civil Lines bungalow rebuilt by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as his residence, the title of the novel read long years ago kept coming back.

Last week the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) registered a preliminary enquiry into alleged ‘irregularities and misconduct’ with respect to the construction of a new official residence for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The charge is that the Public Works Department(PWD) had initially issued a proposal only for the renovation and beautification of the bungalow. However, the original British era property was razed to the ground and a new bungalow built.

It’s been alleged that the PWD demolished the old structure without a survey report and constructed the new building without getting a new building plan sanctioned. Finally there is the issue of expenditure. It’s said that the PWD, which is under the Delhi government, increased the cost of renovation work at the controversial bungalow from Rs 7.62 crore to Rs 33.20 crore without any sanction.

Kejriwal has responded to the move the way he is best known to do. He has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was nervous therefore he has instituted the enquiry against him. He has claimed that in the opposition block he was the only one capable of taking on the BJP.

When Member of Parliament from South Delhi, Ramesh Bidhuri was making the  abusive remarks in the Lok Sabha, two very seasoned members from his party Dr Harshvardhan and Ravi Shankar Prasad were seen laughing.

The three decades long exposure covering politics, especially Delhi, has given opportunity for several interactions with these gentlemen. That Ramesh Bidhuri could speak the way he did, despite now almost a decade in Parliament, and before that in state assembly, was not surprising but that Harshvardhan and Prasad could find it to be a laughing matter surprised many.

It’s difficult to believe that given their career trajectory, they could at the spur of the moment ‘endorse’ of what Bidhuri said. Both Harshvardhan and Prasad are today in political wilderness, and its easy to believe that they were probably laughhing at the muck which the ‘blue-eyed boy’ of ruling dispensation was bringing on the party.