New Delhi, Dec 7 (PTI) The Delhi High Court Tuesday directed the Delhi Police to ensure that shopkeepers and vendors in the Sadar Bazar area here strictly follow COVID-19 guidelines and protocols, saying with the Omicron variant one needs to be more careful.The high court was hearing a plea seeking direction to take necessary legal action against Delhi police officials for violating the COVID-19 guidelines on duty themselves and for not implementing the guidelines in society even after many orders passed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA).Justice Rekha Palli directed the Commissioner of Delhi Police to ensure that concerned police officials of the Sadar Bazar area will make sure that vendors of the area strictly follow COVID-19 protocols.After watching a video shown by petitioner advocate Shalen Bhardwaj, the judge noted that most of the vendors in the area were not wearing masks.“This is not done. With this Omicron you have to be more careful. If they are in a public place they have to be more careful,” the court said.The court listed the matter for further hearing in January and asked the petitioner to implead as the party the police officials who were allegedly violating COVID-19 norms.The petitioner claimed that in the wee hours of August 9, two police personnel posted at Sadar Bazar Police Station were without masks and helmets during patrolling on a government bike and they allegedly misbehaved with him and his relative and used derogatory words.“The said police personnel not only violated the provisions of CrPC but also defamed the petitioner in the eyes of his relative, land, and residents. Further by misusing the police power and section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), he extended the threat to the petitioner to falsely implicate him in false cases, his said act does not come under the discharge of his official police duty,” the petition claimed. PTI SKV RKS RKS