Delhi Violence: Will Not Allow Repeat Of 1984 Under Our Watch, Says Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday pulled up the Delhi Police for its failure to act on the alleged hate speeches made by BJP leaders Parvesh Varma, Anurag Thakur and Kapil Mishra.

The court asked the officer present before it to convey its “anguish” to the national capital’s Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik.

A bench headed by Justice S Muralidhar was hearing a petition filed by social activist Harsh Mander seeking setting up of a special investigation team to investigate the incidents of violence in parts of northeast Delhi over the past four days and registration of first information reports against the three leaders.

The court asked the Delhi Police Commissioner to go through all the speeches and convey whether it’s going to register FIRs against these individuals.

When the Delhi Police said they haven’t seen Mishra’s speech yet, the bench said: “Are you serious?” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that the police will take action at a conducive time, to which Justice Muralidhar asked, “What’s the conducive time? The city is burning.”

When the police informed the bench that 11 FIRs have been registered over the past three days, the court asked why wasn’t the same done in these three cases. “We’ll not let a repeat of 1984. Not under the watch of this court,” said Justice Muralidhar. “This city has seen more than enough violence.”

The bench then asked for the alleged inflammatory speeches to be played inside the courtroom. The police officials present said they haven’t seen the clips of speeches and slogans made by Kapil Mishra on Feb. 23 and by BJP MLA Abhay Raj on Feb. 25.

When the solicitor general said that there are more than 50 such speeches but the petitioners have highlighted only three, the court questioned the police inaction.

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Earlier, the high court also rejected the solicitor general’s request to adjourn the hearing and give them time to respond to the petitions seeking registration of FIRs against the three BJP leaders. “We request you to assist us as a law officer. Does the CP (commissioner of police) Delhi have to be approached by anyone to register an FIR?” Justice Muralidhar said. “I’m really amazed at the state of affairs in Delhi Police.”

After this, the court granted time till Thursday to the Delhi Police to decide on the course of action.