Delhi Violence: HC Pulls Police Over Inaction Against BJP Leaders

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday expressed distressover the failure of Delhi Police to register FIRs against three BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) leaders over their alleged hate speeches in connection withthe Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)-related violence and asked the policecommissioner to take a conscious decision on Thursday.

Justice of Delhi High Court, S Muralidhar, a member ofthe bench hearing the pleas over the Delhi violence was amazed to hear a seniorpolice official who told him that the police had not watched footage of analleged hate speech by the BJP leader Kapil Mishra on Wednesday during ahearing.

The High Court on Wednesday directed the SpecialCommissioner of Police to sit with the Commissioner in view of all these clipsand make a conscious decision and convey it to the court by 2:15 pm today.

The court also raised the question during the hearing yesterday that if the police can register 11 FIRs in incidents including arson, looting, stone-pelting then why it had now shown alacrity when it came doing so in connection with the alleged hate speeches by the three BJP leaders namely Anurag Thakur, Parvesh Verma, and Kapil Mishra. Thakur and Verma had made provocative remarks during the Delhi Assembly poll campaign and the High Court's wrath came as Delhi Police said on Wednesday that it had filed 18 FIRs and arrested 106 in connection with the violence.

Meanwhile, an uneasy calm settled over parts of riot-hit North East Delhi on Wednesday after almost 72 hours of unrest that killed 27 people and injured over 200. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval visited the violence-hit parts of Delhi twice in under 24 hours and said that the situation was under control.