Vivek Bhagat’s Additional DCP Charge Put on Hold Pending Harassment Inquiry

The Delhi government on Tuesday said the current duty charge (CDC) of additional deputy commissioner of police assigned to Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Vivek Bhagat has been withheld after he requested not to take up the post pending an inquiry into allegations of sexual harassment of women journalists.

Bhagat was among 12 DANIPS officers assigned the CDC of additional DCP on Monday. However, he requested “of his own volition” that he not avail the additional charge until a full inquiry into the alleged harassment of women journalists was conducted and satisfactorily concluded, the government said in a post on X.

Accordingly, the earlier order is being modified and will be reissued for assigning the CDC to the remaining 11 officers, it said.

The Delhi government also clarified that the proposal to confer the additional duty charge on the 12 officers, including Bhagat, was initiated on August 25, well before the present allegations, and the orders were issued on October 5 after due approval.

It said the assignment of CDC was a temporary administrative arrangement and carried no financial benefit. Officers given such additional charge also could not exercise any statutory duties of the regular incumbents.

Bhagat’s assignment had triggered criticism as he is among the Delhi Police personnel accused of sexually harassing a woman journalist during the October 3 protest at Jantar Mantar against alleged irregularities in the functioning of the Election Commission and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Three women journalists have accused Delhi Police officers of sexual harassment in connection with the protest. The Delhi Police has received their complaints and forwarded them to the Crime Branch for further inquiry.

The development comes amid heightened political tensions over the allegations, with opposition parties demanding accountability and action against the police personnel named in the complaints.

The inquiry is expected to determine the circumstances surrounding the allegations and whether any disciplinary or legal action is warranted against the accused officers.