Delhi underground

No photos,please
Recently,Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit kept eluding lensmen at the flagging off of the Vishwavidyalaya-Jahangirpuri Metro train. Her coterie of ministers and crowd of party workers trailing her through the ceremony and on the train kept photographers at bay. However,when some never-say-die journalists tried to take few shots after the press meet,Dikshit’s guards shooed them off: “Madam khaate hue photo nahi khichaaengi (Madam doesn’t want pictures clicked while she is eating).”

What’s in a name?
At a function in St Stephen’s College recently,Justice Manmohan Sarin,Lokayukta,NCT Delhi,mixed up the names of former principal Anil Wilson and the current principal Valson Thampu. At a panel discussion,he kept addressing Thampu as ‘Mr Wilson Thampu’. The amused faculty seated among the audience could not help grinning even after the discussion was over.

Sorry,no details here
When it comes to cooperation among different units,the Delhi Police seem to have a long way to go. A team of Special Branch cops were recently trying to locate journalists who had interviewed Binay Kumar Singh,general secretary of Sri Ram Sene. They wanted to get Singh’s number. They were told that the Parliament Street police station would have all his details since he was booked there for vandalizing M F Hussain’s paintings. But the Special Branch cops knew that already. They said they were chasing journalists only after being refused by their colleagues at the police station.

Battle ready
Commissioner of Police Y S Dadwal is not easily outsmarted. To ensure that his orders are quickly and strictly implemented he has appointed observers,who regularly visit police stations to check on discipline and other issues. After Dadwal issued an order that all officers should carry their arms on duty (in the wake of the Batla House encounter),an officer visited the Mandir Marg police station recently just to check if all officers were carrying their weapons.

‘VIP situation’
During the public hide-and-seek played by former deputy chief minister of Haryana Chander Mohan aka Chand Mohammad,he was seen “jogging” near Rajghat in an inebriated state. His two friends were trying to restrain the overzealous Chand when a traffic cop stepped in and told him brusquely to stop running in the middle of the road. The offended friends pointed out to the cop rather authoritatively that the man was the former deputy CM of Haryana. The cop relented,but promptly called a PCR van on spot,choosing not to deal with the ‘VIP situation’ single-handedly.

Ghost signatures
Recently,MCD Standing Committee Chairman Vijender Gupta found himself in a tight spot when senior leaders of the Opposition took a strange complaint against him to the Mayor. They said despite not attending the meetings of the slum committee,Gupta had been signing the attendance register. It was pointed out that three times in December last year Gupta’s signatures figure in the register despite his absence from the meetings. At a loss for words,Gupta promptly removed his signatures from the register to avoid courting any further controversy.

‘Valuable’ suggestions
Asked for suggestions for better functioning of evening courts,a magistrate said the delay in serving summons can be avoided by issuing non-bailable warrants against those who repeatedly fail to show up at hearings. Since evening courts usually deal with minor offences like breaking traffic rules,the magistrate’s suggestion was immediately shot down by judges,who unanimously said it was wrong and silly to issue non-bailable warrants in such cases. In an attempt to save face,the magistrate made things even more embarrassing for himself. “But I am not the only one issuing non-bailable warrants in such cases. Everyone does it,” he said.