NEW DELHI: The Delhi government has modified an administrative order assigning the current duty charge (CDC) of Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Addl DCP) to 12 Selection Grade DANIPS officers, removing Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Vivek Bhagat from the arrangement after he voluntarily sought to step aside pending an inquiry into allegations of harassment of women journalists.The government said on Monday that Bhagat had requested not to take up the additional charge until the inquiry into the allegations was completed.“Vivek Bhagat, ACP, of his own volition, has requested not to avail the current duty charge assignment, till a full enquiry has been conducted in the matter of alleged harassment of women journalists and such enquiry has been satisfactorily concluded,” the Delhi government said in a post on X.“Accordingly, the order dated October 5, 2026, as aforesaid, is being modified and will be reissued with respect to assignment of current duty charge on the eleven remaining officers,” it added.
Order issued before allegations surfaced
The Delhi government clarified that the administrative process for assigning the additional duty charge had begun well before the allegations against Bhagat emerged.“The proposal to confer additional duty charge to these officers was initiated on August 25, much before the present set of events. The orders were issued after due approval on October 5,” the government said.Earlier on Monday, Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu had approved the assignment of CDC of the Addl DCP post to 12 DANIPS officers serving in the Delhi Police with immediate effect. Bhagat, who is currently posted as Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of Connaught Place, was among those named in the order,.The government also stressed that the CDC arrangement was temporary and did not amount to a regular promotion.“As stated in the order, the assignment of current duty charge is a temporary arrangement which confers no financial benefit, and no statutory duties of the regular incumbents can be exercised by the officers to whom current duty charge has been assigned,” the statement said.
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A revised order assigning the current duty charge to the remaining 11 DANIPS officers will be issued, the government said.
Complaints sent to Crime Branch
Bhagat was accused of sexually harassing a woman journalist during an October 3 protest at Jantar Mantar against alleged irregularities in the Election Commission’s functioning and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.Three women journalists have accused Delhi Police officers of sexual harassment during the protest.The Delhi Police received their complaints and forwarded them to the Crime Branch for further inquiry.In a statement on X on Sunday, the Delhi Police said the New Delhi district had received the complaints and transferred them to the Crime Branch for a “fair and impartial enquiry”.Following the allegations, several independent journalists also held a protest outside Parliament Street police station, demanding registration of an FIR against the officers, according to news agency PTI.The revised Delhi government order will now cover the 11 other DANIPS officers whose current duty charge assignments were approved earlier.
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