Take up Delhi riots matter on Fri, SC tells HC

NEWDELHI: The Delhi high court’s decision to adjourn a plea seeking registration of FIRs into incidents of hate speech before last week’s Delhi riots cannot be justified, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday, directing the high court to hear the case on March 6 and urging it to explore the possibility of a peaceful resolution of the dispute.

The top court also ordered that the petitions relating to Delhi violence, which were filed in the Supreme Court, be transmitted to the high court for hearing on March 6, along with other cases already pending before the Delhi high court on the same issue.

“Their prayer to hear the matter on time is justified,” CJI SA Bobde remarked, and also directed the high court to decide the case expeditiously.

Ten victims, who were affected by Delhi riots, approached the Supreme Court seeking registration of FIRs against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Anurag Thakur, Kapil Mishra, Parvesh Verma and Abhay Verma under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including offences of hate speech, rioting, unlawful assembly, insulting religious beliefs, and murder.

The petitioners said that activist Harsh Mander had filed a similar petition before the Delhi high court, but that was adjourned by the court for more than a month. Mander had also moved the top court against the order of the high court, which adjourned his plea

for April 13.

The petitioners pointed out that videos involving the four BJP leaders, in which they were allegedly seen exhorting their followers against those protesting against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), had gone viral on social media .

Senior counsel Colin Gonsalves, appearing for the petitioners, told the court on Wednesday that Mishra made provocative slogans on February 23, instigating the crowd to unleash violence against anti-CAA protestors. The Delhi communal riots, in which 47 people were killed, raged between February 23 and 25 as protests against CAA (by largely Muslim groups) and in favour of the legislation (by Hindu groups) erupted into violence.