ACP Manasvi Vashishta, who led protest outside Delhi Police headquarters, suspended for ‘violation of discipline’

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Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Manasvi Vashishta led a protest by Delhi Police personnel outside the force’s headquarters on Monday following a clash with lawyers. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Manasvi Vashishta, who led a protest by Delhi Police personnel outside the force’s headquarters on Monday (November 2, 2026) following a clash with lawyers, has been placed under suspension for “violation of discipline”, Delhi Police sources told The Hindu on Tuesday (November 3., 2026).

Mr. Vashishta joined around 100 police personnel who gathered outside Gate No. 1 of the Delhi Police headquarters on Monday (November 2, 2026) morning, demanding a meeting with the Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar over the recent fiasco with lawyers at the Shahdara police station.

ACP Vashishta and Arun Kumar, the Station House Officer of the Shahdara police station, were transferred following an indefinite strike called by city lawyers over the handling of an assault case involving advocate Lalit Bansal.

The protest began around 8 a.m., with personnel holding placards and posters and demanding a meeting with Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar and reinstatement of the two officials.

After nearly three hours, Mr. Anurag Kumar and other senior officers met the protesters and heard their demands.

According to a police officer, the personnel raised five demands, including a standard operating procedure for handling confrontations involving lawyers, restricting the number of lawyers entering a police station to five at a time, and registering FIRs against lawyers allegedly involved in misconduct towards police personnel.

They also sought a dedicated cell at police headquarters to address complaints against lawyers, including recommending action against their Bar Council licences, and the deployment of police personnel in courts, depending on their size, to deal with incidents of violence and misbehaviour.

“We have placed our demands before the Commissioner. He provided us with the meeting that we had requested. Not many people got the opportunity to speak openly. Nevertheless, we have conveyed our demands to him, and they are being discussed,” Mr. Vashishta had said during the protest.

The transfers followed an October 23 altercation at Shahdara police station in which an advocate allegedly sustained a head injury.

District court lawyers subsequently launched an indefinite strike, alleging that Mr. Vashishta and Mr. Arun Kumar had threatened advocates who went to the police station over the handling of the assault case. They demanded action against the officers concerned.

Mr. Vashishta, who was serving as Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Gandhi Nagar, was transferred to the Special Police Unit for Women and Children, while Mr. Arun Kumar was moved to the Security Branch. The lawyers called off their strike after the transfer orders were issued.

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