HC grants Centre one month to update on action taken against hate speech

The Delhi High Court on Thursday (February 27) granted four weeks to the Centre and the Delhi police to file their replies to the PIL seeking lodging of FIRs against three BJP leaders for allegedly making hate speeches, which is said to have been one of the reasons behind the violent clashes in northeast Delhi.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the bench comprising Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar that, since the Centre is responsible for maintaining law and order in Delhi, it be made a party in the matter, which was allowed by the court.

He informed the bench that 48 FIRs have been lodged in relation to the violence and said there be no judicial intervention till normalcy is restored in Delhi. Mehta also said the FIRs have been lodged in relation to arson, looting and the deaths in the communal violence.

Related news | Scared and scarred, riot-hit Delhi made 10,820 calls to cops in two days

The death toll in the communal violence reached 34 on Thursday, with around 200 people injured.

The high court had on Wednesday (February 27) expressed “anguish” over the Delhi Police’s failure to register FIRs against three BJP leaders over their alleged hate speeches in connection with the violence over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. It observed that the city had seen enough violence and should not witness another 1984 anti-Sikh riots-like incident.

The bench had also questioned that when the police could register FIRs in connection with incidents of violence, including arson, looting, stone pelting, why did it not show alacrity when it came to the alleged hate speeches by the three BJP leaders – Anurag Thakur, Parvesh Verma, and Kapil Mishra.

(With inputs from agencies)