New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a plea by victims of Delhi violence seeking immediate registration of FIRs against leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for allegedly delivering hate speeches and fanning communal tensions in the capital which saw 47 people being killed and hundreds injured. The top court admitted the plea and fixed Wednesday as the date of hearing. The plea, filed by victims of the violence that gripped the capital on February 24, seeks immediate registration of FIRs against BJP leaders Kapil Mishra, Anurag Thakur, Pravesh Verma and others. Among other issues, the petitioners have also sought setting up of a Special Investigation Team with officers from outside Delhi to probe the riots, deployment of Army to maintain law and order and constitution of an inquiry committee headed by a retired judge to probe the alleged involvement of police personnel
Chief Justice Sharad A. Bobde, while hearing the plea, said that the Supreme Court is not equipped to handle the public “pressure” that expects them to step in and deal with communal violence in Delhi and prevent it from re-occurring.
Stating that courts can deal with a situation after it happens, Chief Justice Bobde, heading a three-judge bench that included Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Surya Kant, said, “Courts come on to the scene after the thing is done and courts have not been able to prevent such thing.”
The oral observations by Chief Justice Bobde came in the course of a mentioning by senior counsel Colin Gonsalves, appearing for a group of victims of the communal violence in Delhi, seeking an urgent hearing of their plea.
CJI Bobde said, “We are not saying people should die. That kind of pressure we are not equipped to handle. We cannot stop things from happening. We cannot give preventive relief... We feel a kind of pressure on us... We can only deal with the situation after it occurs, the kind of pressure on us, we can’t handle that... it’s like court is responsible.”
Pointing to the limitations of the court, CJI said that they were reading media reports and are aware of the kind of comments being made.
Expressing “disappointment” over Delhi high court adjourning the hearing on a petition relating to Delhi violence by six weeks, Mr Gonsalves pointed out that earlier the high court had adjourned a matter seeking inquiry into Jamia violence by several weeks.
Mr Gonsalves also told the top court that there are five or six prominent people who are going about instigating the violence. He pointed out, “At least 10 to 11 people are dying everyday. Last night five or seven people died. Delhi is under a cloud of fear.”
“We will hear it. But you must understand we are not equipped to prevent such things from happening. We can only come into scene after such things have happened,” CJI Bobde said, indicating that courts can’t forestall such things from happening.
“There are many things which Your Lordship’s can’t handle. But we are here to assist you,” Mr Gonsalves said.
As CJI Bobde said that they would hear the matter on Wednesday (March 4), Mr Gonsalves asked if it could be March 3.
The petition by the riot victims has sought the registration of FIR against BJP leaders Kapil Mishra, Anurag Thakur, Pravesh Verma and all others who indulged in hate speech, rioting, murder, arson.
The petitioners have sought a series of directions that includes setting up of an SIT with officers from outside Delhi to probe the riots, deployment of Army to maintain law and order, probe into the violence by a inquiry committee headed by a former top court judge, and exemplary compensation to all victims.
Besides seeking that the full list of people detained by police and paramilitary be made public, the petitioners have also sought preservation of CCTV footage of riot-affected areas.
The petition has further sought that the post-mortem reports be given to the families of the victims.
