Delhi violence: SC scrap Delhi HC, told to give hearing to riot victims

Delhi violence: SC scrap Delhi HC, told to give hearing to riot victims

The Bench headed by Chief Justice S. A. Bobde ordered the Delhi High Court Chief Justice, Dhirubhai Patel, to hear on Friday the petitions filed by 10 riot victims against the alleged hate speeches.

FPJ BureauUpdated: Thursday, March 05, 2020, 06:56 AM IST
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Delhi HC |

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday pulled up the Delhi High Court for its "unjustified long adjournment" of four weeks on a petition seeking filing of FIRs against BJP leaders for their hate speeches, which allegedly triggered the communal flare-up.

The Bench headed by Chief Justice S. A. Bobde ordered the Delhi High Court Chief Justice, Dhirubhai Patel, to hear on Friday the petitions filed by 10 riot victims against the alleged hate speeches.

It expressed its annoyance when told by senior lawyer Colin Gonsalves, who is representing the riot victims, that the High Court bench had adjourned the hearing on a similar plea by activist Harsh Mander, a former IAS officer, to April 13, just because the Centre wanted time to file a reply.

This despite Justice S Muralidhar, who presided over the bench before he was shunted out, wanting the FIR to be lodged within 24 hours. Gonsalves was also Mander’s lawyer.

"Their prayer to be heard in time is justified. We don’t want to interfere in the High Court’s order, but it should hear this petition by Gonsalves this Friday," the CJI said.

"During riots, violence cannot be curbed by courts. But just because there is no violence, it does not mean that courts can give such long adjournments," the CJI observed.

He also asked Gonsalves to submit the name of any political leader to the High Court on Friday who can speak to the BJP leaders accused of making the hate speeches.Mander's plea seeks lodging of FIRs against BJP leader Kapil Mishra, accused of making an inflammatory speech on Sunday, hours before the riots began, besides his BJP colleagues Anurag Thakur, a union minister, and MP Parvesh Kumar, who made incendiary remarks in the run-up to the Delhi polls.

The High Court has also admitted two petitions seeking action against Mander, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Bollywood actor Swara Bhasker and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, among others, for their alleged hate speeches.

The Supreme Court also took cognizance of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's claim that Mander had allegedly asked a mob to "take to the streets," and read out from purported transcript of his speech, saying, "We have seen the track record of the Supreme Court and ultimately justice will be done on the streets."

The SC Bench, which also included Justices Bhushan R Gavai and Surya Kant, said the High Court would hear only the plea filed by the victims while Mander's earlier petition would be kept pending until his speech "against the SC is heard and decided upon."

The Bench kept to itself the allegations of hate speech against Harsh Mander.

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