The Delhi High Court has dismissed a batch of petitions seeking registration of criminal cases against several political leaders over alleged hate speeches in the period preceding the 2020 North-East Delhi riots.
A Division Bench of Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Manoj Jain dismissed 15 petitions concerning allegations of inflammatory speeches, police inaction and the handling of complaints arising from the communal violence that rocked parts of northeast Delhi in February 2020.
The petitions sought directions for registration of FIRs against a number of political leaders, besides demanding an independent investigation into the alleged role of political figures and the response of law-enforcement authorities to the violence.
The leaders named in different petitions included Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra; BJP leaders Kapil Mishra, Anurag Thakur, Parvesh Verma and Abhay Verma; and AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Amanatullah Khan. AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi and former MLA Warris Pathan were also among those against whom allegations had been raised.
The petitioners had approached the High Court alleging that speeches delivered by various political figures contained statements capable of provoking hostility between communities and warranted criminal investigation.
Several pleas also questioned the conduct of the Delhi Police, alleging that authorities had failed to take timely action on complaints relating to inflammatory speeches and had not adequately discharged their responsibilities during the period surrounding the riots.
The petitions were filed in the aftermath of the February 2020 violence, which claimed more than 50 lives and left hundreds injured. The proceedings also encompassed allegations connected with the police response to protests and violence at Jamia Millia Islamia in December 2019.
The petitioners had sought, among other reliefs, constitution of a Special Investigation Team to examine the allegations and directions for registration of FIRs where offences were found to have been disclosed.
The proceedings remained pending before the High Court for several years as the court considered the rival contentions and the material placed before it.
With the dismissal of the batch, the specific pleas seeking fresh criminal proceedings and an independent probe into the allegations against the political leaders and police authorities have come to an end before the High Court.
The ruling is confined to the petitions before the Bench and does not bring to a close the various other criminal proceedings arising from the 2020 North-East Delhi riots, including cases concerning allegations of a broader conspiracy behind the violence.
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