The Delhi High Court on Thursday deferred till March 20 the hearing on a batch of petitions related to recent riots that broke out in the capital's northeast area.
A Bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice C. Hari Shankar adjourned the hearing after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta sought time to submit the detailed reply of the government.
The Bench directed the Centre to submit its reply on or before March 16.
During the brief proceeding, senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for petitioner Harsh Mander, urged that he be allowed to argue his case in the afternoon session. Mr. Mander has sought lodging of FIRs against three BJP leaders — Anurag Thakur, Parvesh Verma and Kapil Mishra — over their alleged hate speeches.
The Bench also issued notice to the police and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government on a petition alleging that hate speeches were made by Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Salman Khurshid and the BJP’s Thakur and Mishra.
The Supreme Court had earlier this month remarked that it was “unjustified” on the part of the Delhi High Court to delay hearing the pleas for arrest and prosecution of leaders, who instigated the communal rampage.
Following this, on March 6, the Bench headed by Chief Justice Patel took up the bunch of pleas related to the issue and posted them for detailed hearing together on March 12.
One of the petitions in the matter include a plea filed by CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat to make public the list of persons arrested in connection with the recent violence in northeast Delhi. Ms. Karat has urged the High Court to direct the police to follow due process of listing of names of arrested persons outside the Police Control Room or Police Station, and updating them on a case-by-case basis.
Another petition has also sought lodging of FIRs against the Congress leaders as well as Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan, AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi and former AIMIM MLA Waris Pathan for allegedly making hate speeches.
Ms. Karat in her second petition, filed through advocate Tara Narula, said she has been actively working in the riot-affected areas in northeast Delhi in her personal capacity as well as a member of the Delhi Relief and Solidarity Committee. In her petition, she has called for “a status report disclosing the names and numbers of persons detained and arrested by the Delhi Police in relation to the pogrom between February 23, 2020 and now”.