New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday, while hearing pleas seeking an SIT probe into the 2020 North-East Delhi riots, issued a series of fresh notices against political leaders mentioned in the petitions. The HC's decision came after it found out that processing fee for the summons had not been filed, resulting in summons not being served to leaders in question. The bench, headed by Justice Siddharth Mridul, ordered the next hearing on April 29.
As per information, soon after the hearings kicked off, the court asked petitioners whether those issued notices during last hearing were present, and after a negative response, reminded them that the SC has set a limit for hearing of the plea, also berating the petitioners in the process.
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A total of 24 leaders from various political parties have been subjected to the two pleas by one Sheikh Mujtaba and an entity named Lawyers' Voice respectively. While Mujtaba held responsible speeches by four BJP leaders - Kapil Sharma, Anurag Thakur, Parvesh Verma and Abhay Verma - for inciting violence, Lawyers' Voice named 20 leaders in its plea. The list included Congress leader Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, AAP leader Manish Sisodia, AIMIM chief Akbaruddin Owaisi, Lawyer Mehmood Pracha as well as 14 other leaders from different political parties.
The court, during the hearing, also noted that before the leaders were made party to the petition, it would be a key element to know their answers in this regard. This was followed by the bench issuing the fresh notice.
