The Delhi High Court today adjourned all the matters pertaining to the Delhi violence till March 12. The High Court asked the Centre and Delhi Police to file their responses on all pleas, including impleadment applications, before then.
The court also issued notice in a petition moved by CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat that sought its directions to police to display the names of the arrested and detained persons on the notice board outside the control rooms as mandated by section 41(c) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The High Court also ordered the government hospitals in the national capital to videograph autopsies of all the people killed in the violence that played out in Delhi for four days after clashes broke out between groups supporting and opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act.
The hospitals have also been told not to dispose of any unidentified body till March 11 and to preserve DNA samples of all dead bodies.
A batch of petitions that would be heard by the High Court on March 12, includes activist Harsh Mander’s plea seeking an independent judicial inquiry into the alleged acts of violence committed by the Delhi Police during the riots.
The High Court was hearing the pleas after the Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde on Wednesday asked it to deal with the matter expeditiously.
The bench also comprising BR Gavai and Surya Kant had said, “We think that adjournment (in Delhi HC) of such a long period is unjustified. We also do not want to assume jurisdiction when the HC is seized of the matter. All other connected matters in the same subject which have been adjourned to a later date may be advanced and taken up along with this matter.”
On February 27, the Delhi High Court had adjourned the plea to April 13.
The bench presided by Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Hari Shankar subscribed to the Centre’s submission that “the time was not conducive to file FIRs related to the alleged hate speeches as the priority right now should be to ensure peace”.
Over 53 people lost their lives and over 300 injured in the violence that erupted last month in the north-east area of Delhi.