High Court seeks probe update from police on 2020 Delhi riots

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the Delhi Police to place on record the current status of investigations in the FIRs registered in connection with the 2020 North-East Delhi riots.

A Division Bench of Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Manoj Jain was hearing a batch of long-pending petitions seeking probe by an independent special investigation team, action against police personnel and FIRs against several political leaders accused of making inflammatory statements.

The Bench fixed the matter for further hearing on November 21 and directed the Delhi Police counsel, Dhruv Pande, to provide updated details, including the total number of FIRs.

Among the petitions is one filed by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, which has sought an impartial probe by a court-monitored SIT headed by a retired Supreme Court or Delhi High Court judge, with serving members of the Delhi Police excluded from the team. As the organisation’s counsel briefed the Bench on the violence and the deaths that occurred, the judges noted that FIRs had already been lodged and investigations were underway. They observed that in such circumstances, little remained to be directed through a writ.

Counsel for Jamiat submitted that their concern was the alleged lack of fairness in the police investigation and insisted that an independent probe was necessary. The Bench, however, indicated that such grievances must be raised before the magistrate supervising the investigation, not through writ proceedings. Justice Chaudhary remarked that questions of fact should be addressed before the trial court, which could examine evidence and issue appropriate directions.

The judge also observed that despite the availability of alternate remedies, the petitioners had not pursued them in the past six to seven years, leaving the writ petitions pending without substantive progress. The court reiterated that FIRs had been registered and the police were investigating.

The batch includes a plea by Shaikh Mujtaba seeking FIRs and investigative action against BJP leaders Kapil Mishra, Anurag Thakur, Parvesh Verma and Abhay Verma for allegedly delivering provocative speeches ahead of the riots. The petition also calls for FIRs against police personnel accused of misconduct. A similar petition filed by Lawyers Voice presses for action against other political figures as well.

Another plea, moved by Ajay Gautam, seeks a National Investigation Agency probe into the alleged funding of anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests. The petitioner has claimed that the protests were allegedly financed by the Popular Front of India and backed by political parties, including Congress and Aam Aadmi Party. He has also sought FIRs against political leaders such as Waris Pathan, Asaduddin Owaisi and Salman Khurshid for allegedly making incendiary remarks.

A separate petition by Brinda Karat asks for an independent investigation into complaints alleging excesses and offences by the police, Rapid Action Force personnel and other state actors during the riots. In December 2021, the Supreme Court had directed the Delhi High Court to decide one of the petitions seeking FIRs against politicians within three months.