Priyanka Gandhi (File) The Delhi High Court Tuesday ordered issuance of fresh notices to several political leaders and activists, including Congress leaders president Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, and Union minister Anurag Thakur, in applications seeking their impleadment as respondents in petitions seeking registration of an FIR against them for allegedly giving hate speeches prior to the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots.
The division bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar pulled up the counsel representing the petitioners for not filing the process fee for issuance of notices as per the order dated February 28. “You don’t seem to be in a hurry to go on with the matter,” observed the court, while hearing the matter which has remained pending since 2020.
The court also said the Supreme Court has asked it to dispose of the matter within a specific time period. Asking the petitioners to file the process fee within two days so that fresh notices can be issued, the court listed the matter for hearing in April.
The court earlier had asked petitioners whether it can proceed to issue any direction against whom the allegations have been made without them being arrayed as parties. Following the court’s observations, the two petitioners, Lawyers Voice and Shaikh Mujtaba Farooq & Ors., last month moved two applications seeking to add at least 24 persons against whom FIRs are being sought as respondents to the petitions.
Besides the Gandhis, Lawyers Voice in its application prayed for impleadment of AAP leaders Manish Sisodia, Amanutullah Khan; AIMIM leaders Akbaruddin Owaisi, Warrish Pathan; lawyer Mehmood Pracha, activist Harsh Mander, former Bombay High Court judge B G Kolse Patil, incarcerated student activist Umar Khalid, actor Swara Bhaskar and others. Farooq in his application has prayed for impleadment of BJP leaders like Thakur, Kapil Mishra, Parvesh Verma and Abhay Verma.
The court Tuesday pulled up the counsel representing the Lawyers Voice for not furnishing the addresses of several of the persons who they wish to add as respondents. It warned the counsel to either furnish the addresses of those proposed respondents within two days or drop them from the case.
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