North-east Delhi violence: HC asks police to file fresh status report

The Delhi High Court on Monday asked Delhi Police to file a fresh affidavit having all the details and status of cases going on before the trial courts in connection with the violence that broke out in the north-east district of the national capital in February 2020. The Delhi Police had submitted before the Court that the speeches of political leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Anurag Thakur and others are being examined and necessary action will be taken if it is found that their speech had any nexus with the violence.

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday asked Delhi Police to file a fresh affidavit having all the details and status of cases going on before the trial courts in connection with the violence that broke out in the north-east district of the national capital in February 2020. The Bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh sought a fresh affidavit having all the details regarding the number of chargesheets filed, witnesses being examined and the status of stages of the trial cases going before the special trial courts hearing matters related to north-east Delhi violence.

The bench deferred the matter to October 8 for further hearing. The bench is currently examining a batch of petitions raising questions on the investigation of law enforcement agencies. Earlier, the High Court had expressed concern over the delay in action by the law enforcement agencies in containing violence and directed the Delhi Police to examine the videos related to hate speeches by political leaders, which allegedly led to violence in north-east Delhi.

The Delhi Police had submitted before the High Court that the speeches of political leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Anurag Thakur, Kapil Mishra, Pravesh Verma, and others are being examined and necessary action will be taken if it is found that their speech had any nexus with the violence.

The Delhi Police, in its affidavit filed on a batch of pleas pertaining to violence, said that the police authorities acted promptly, vigilantly, and effectively without any fear or favour as a result of which violence could be contained in few days and to a limited area. "Speeches of political leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Anurag Thakur, Kapil Mishra, Pravesh Verma, Waris Pathan, and others are being examined by the Delhi Police and necessary action will be taken in due course of time if it is found on the evidence that their speech had any nexus with the riots," the affidavit said.

"It also submitted that the petitioners in the present petition have not come before this court with clean hands. They have selectively chosen certain speeches and incidents to further their hidden agenda," Delhi Police said in its affidavit. "It is stated that the selective outrage by the petitioners towards specific incidents while ignoring other abhorrent incidents of violence, itself manifest that the present petitions are not bonafide but motivated need to be dismissed," it added. Around 53 people lost their lives in the violence that erupted in northeast Delhi after clashes between two opposing factions over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

ANI