Delhi riots: High Court allows pleas to implead leaders in proceedings for FIR

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Wednesday allowed the pleas to implead several political leaders as parties to proceedings seeking FIR and investigation against them for allegedly delivering hate speeches leading to the February 2020 riots here.

The high court orally said all those who wish to file replies to the main petitions can do so within a week and listed the matter for further hearing on August 2. A bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Amit Sharma noted in its order that the proposed respondents do not oppose the applications seeking to implead them as parties except to the extent that the allegations made against them in the applications are traverse in toto and the petitioners are put to strict proof.

"We will implead you and hear you," said the bench to the counsel for one of the leaders. The court, while hearing a batch of petitions concerning the 2020 riots in northeast Delhi, said the amended memo of parties be also filed. Earlier this year, the court had issued notices to several politicians, including Anurag Thakur (BJP), Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (Congress), Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, and others, on two impleadment applications in the matter. One impleadment application was filed by Shaikh Mujtaba Farooq who has sought FIR for hate speech against BJP leaders Anurag Thakur, Kapil Mishra, Parvesh Verma, and Abhay Verma.

The other application was by petitioner -- Lawyers Voice -- which has sought the registration of hate speech FIRs against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as well as Delhi's Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan, AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi, former AIMIM MLA Warris Pathan, advocate Mehmood Pracha, Harsh Mander, Mufti Mohammad Ismail, Swara Bhasker, Umar Khalid, BG Kolse Patil — former Bombay High Court Judge and others. In the application filed by lawyers Sneha Mukherjee and Siddharth Seem, Farooq has stated that after the political leaders named in his plea "engaged in the hate speech and exhortation to murder peaceful protestors, attacks broke out all across Delhi".

Lawyers Voice, represented by advocates Satya Ranjan Swain and Archana Sharma, has stated in the application that public discourse cannot become a tool to promote speech that is inimical to public order and if FIR is not registered, the wrongdoers will be encouraged. Apart from seeking action against those who allegedly gave the hate speeches in the backdrop of the introduction of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, the other petitions have also sought relief which includes setting up of an SIT, FIRs against police officers who were allegedly involved in the violence, and disclosure of persons arrested and detained.

In its response to these prayers, the police had earlier said it has already created three special investigation teams (SITs) under the crime branch and there was no evidence till now that its officers were involved in the violence. The police, in its affidavit earlier, has said that the investigation into the riots has not revealed any evidence till now that political leaders instigated or participated in the violence. Earlier, while asking the parties to collate the issues, the court had noted that the Supreme Court, in an order of December 17, 2021, has requested it to dispose of expeditiously, preferably within three months, a plea seeking registration of FIR against some politicians for their alleged hate speeches which purportedly led to the north-east Delhi riots.