The Delhi High Court recently asked the police to inform it about the status of criminal cases related to the riots that broke out in the national capital in February 2020.
A bench led by Justice Suresh Kumar Kait mentioned that more than 750 FIRs were lodged in the aftermath of the violence and the investigation in 273 were still pending. The court asked the Delhi Police to register a fresh status report with respect to the cases.
The bench also comprising Justice Manoj Jain ordered that the police is directed to file a current status report regarding the cases within 10 days. On February 24, 2024 communal clashes had broken out in North East Delhi, after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters intensified leaving nearly 53 people dead and around 700 injured.
The Delhi High Court was hearing a plea by Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind seeking setting up of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to carry out an independent probe into the riots. The lawyer stated the SIT should be directed at least in those cases where the stage of filing of charge sheet has not even come till now.
The court also observed that the cases were filed in 2020 but several of them were still pending and asked the police the reason behind it. The court noted that total cases registered is 757, transferred to crime branch 62, number of cases charge-sheeted 367, number of cases pending trial 250 and pending investigation is 273. Hence, pending cases are 273 as on April 2, the court added.
The petitioner had moved the high court in March 2020 seeking several reliefs, including preservation of the CCTV footage of the riots in northeast Delhi. The plea has claimed that FIRs have not been lodged against persons responsible for the riots and alleged that the police is not accepting the complaint in which the accused are named. It added that the police are insisting on filing a complaint against unknown persons.
The matter is scheduled for further hearing on April 29.