The petitioner has sought judicial enquiry into the incidents of violence, FIR against the culprits, deployment of army and compensation for the victims.
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked a clip of Bharatiya Janata Pary (BJP) leader Kapil Mishra’s remarks made at Northeast Delhi hours before the violence broke out to be played inside the court.
The court was hearing a plea filed by retired bureaucrat Harsh Mander on violence in which 20 people have been killed. The petitioner has sought judicial enquiry into the incidents of violence, FIR against the culprits, deployment of army and compensation for the victims.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for Delhi Police, and asked the matter to be postponed till tomorrow. “Can’t this matter wait for 16 more hours?” said Mehta seeking to make Union of India a party to this case.
Justice Muralidhar immediately shot back: “Isn’t lodging of FIRs against the culprits an urgent matter? The situation out there is very unpleasant.”
He the pointed out the alleged inflammatory remarks made by Mishra. “There are videos that hundreds of people have watched. Do you still think it’s not an urgent matter?” asked the judge.
When a policeman informed the court that he has seen videos of the violence, but not of Mishra’s, the judge said, “This is really concerning. There are so many TVs in your office, how can police officer say that he hasn’t watched the videos. I’m really appalled by the state of affairs of Delhi Police.” He then ordered the clip of Mishra’s address to be played in the court.
Petitioner’s lawyer Rahul Mehra made an objection when the Solicitor General said that he has been authorised by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal. “The LG can’t authorise Solicitor General to appear on behalf of Delhi Police without the aid and advice of Delhi government. It’s against rule of law,” said Mehra.
The protest started in Jafrabad, Maujpur and other areas of Northeast Delhi on Saturday, but flared up after the weekend after Mishra reached the area and asked the police to remove protesters within three days. The groups protesting for and against the Citizenship (Amendment) act or CAA were seen roaming on streets with swords and pistols. Houses and vehicles in the area were torched and more than 250 injured in two days of violence.
Though the protesters shifted from the main road under the Jafrabad Metro station on Wednesday morning, there are reports of a fresh round of violence in two Northeast Delhi pockets of Chand Bagh and Gokulpuri. Some protesters started pelting stones, which led to a crackdown by cops in these areas.
The Centre has been continuously reviewing the situation – Home Minister Amit Shah held three meeting in 24 hours and National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval visited the violence hit areas on Tuesday night. He was accompanied by Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik.
Doval has been tasked with overseeing the Delhi Police efforts to maintain peace in the national capital.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, meanwhile, asked Home Minister Amit Shah to call the army to instil confidence in people. Kejriwal said the police, despite all its efforts, had been unable to control the situation.
“I have been in touch wid large no of people whole nite. Situation alarming. Police, despite all its efforts, unable to control situation and instil confidence. Army shud be called in and curfew imposed in rest of affected areas immediately. Am writing to Hon’ble HM to this effect,” he tweeted on Wednesday.
The Chief Minister held emergency meeting over the situation on Tuesday and instructed city officials to coordinate with central agencies in restoring peace in the violence-hit areas.
Prasanta Patnaik