Crackdown on Ramdev was pre-planned: amicus to SC

New Delhi, Dec 16: The Supreme Court was told that the decision on midnight crackdown on Yoga guru Ramdev and his supporters was taken in advance by the Centre and police implemented it to please their "political masters".

Advocate Rajeev Dhawan, assisting the apex court as amicus curiae, referred to an interview of Home Minister P Chidambram who had himself said a decision had been taken to remove Ramdev out of the city if he goes ahead with the agitation.

"This suggests that the decision had been taken but suspended while talks were going on and when the talks failed the police were told to enforce the decision," Dhavan told a bench of justices B S Chauhan and Swatanter Kumar. He rejected the claim of the government that it was not aware of all the developments at the Ramlila Maidan where the agitation was going on.

"It is not possible to believe that all informations were not sent to the Home Secretary and further it was not possible to believe that it was not sent to the Home Minister," Dhawan said adding "it was an abrupt operation in the midnight to please their (police) political masters."

"The Home Minister and the Commissioner of Police were working together to decide what is to be done to Baba Ramdev," he said. He also contended the Centre was also planning to do the same thing with Anna Hazare two months down the line by arresting him in the morning but they could not.

PTI