The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Delhi HC to fast-track hearing on Public Interest Litigation (PIL)s seeking registration of First Information Report (FIR)s against BJP functionaries Kapil Mishra, Anurag Thakur & Parvesh Verma for making allegedly inflammatory speeches, including “desh ke gaddaron ko...” slogans, which petitioners say went viral & caused riots in Delhi.
Transferring a petition filed by riot victims led by Aurangabad-based Shaikh Mujtaba Farooq for hearing to the Delhi High Court, with a request to hear it on Friday along with pending petitions adjourned to Apr 13, a bench of CJI S A Bobde & Justices B R Gavai & Surya Kant said, “We think adjournment for a long period was unjustified. But, at the same time, adhering to judicial discipline, we willn't assume jurisdiction over the matter when the High Court is already dealing with it.” It said, “Delhi High Court is requested to dispose of the matters as expeditiously as possible on their own merits & in accordance with law. The High Court may also explore the possibility of peaceful resolution of the subject dispute.” The riots claimed 47 lives. The order came after a 45-minute hearing before the bench that was keenly watched by lawyers from both sides.
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for Delhi Police & Delhi govt, criticised the rushed hearing before Delhi HC last month before a bench headed by Justice S Muralidhar, prior to his transfer to Punjab & Haryana HC. Later, a bench headed by Chief Justice D N Patel adjourned hearing to Apr 13.
“We told the court that we have to go through 7,000 videos & over 1,000 speeches, which were inflammatory. We also told them that the situation is not conducive for registration of an First Information Report (FIR) as we are trying to restore law & order & under the prevailing circumstances, we defer registration of FIRs against those who made inflammatory speeches,” the SG said.
CJI Bobde asked, “Is the situation conducive today? Will you register the FIRs now?” This evoked laughter from a section of lawyers. An annoyed CJI said, “We will stop the hearing. It is a courtroom & not a meeting ground.” The SG replied, “There are inflammatory speeches from both sides. What the petitioners have done is to selectively cite certain speeches. If we had started registering FIRs against leaders of the community without bringing the law & order situation under control, it would have flared up.”
Appearing for petitioners, senior advocate Colin Gonsalves said, “If they had arrested those who made inflammatory speeches that went viral leading to riots, the carnage in Delhi could have been stopped.” CJI Bobde said, “We have some experience of riots. Your (Gonsalves’s) statement isn't always true. Speaking generally & without referring to the Delhi riots, we know from experience that sometimes when police arrests leaders, riots flare up. What happened in Mumbai riots? A few shakha pramukhs (Shiv Sena functionaries) were arrested & the riots flared up.”
Gonsalves said, “When leaders stand next to police & say police are with them & they go scot free because of their proximity to the ruling party, situations flare up.” The CJI said, “These allegations can be established only after a thorough inquiry. What is the urgency today? As you admit, the objectionable slogans (desh ke gaddaron ko...) were first made on January 21, why didn’t you lodge an First Information Report (FIR) then?”
Gonsalves replied, “We didn’t think the slogan would go viral & cause riots. We thought it to be a political stunt. But we were demoralised by the High Court adjourning the hearing to April 13. The HC took the same approach in police lathi charge on Jamia students. The court heard the case on Dec 19 & then adjourned it to Feb 2.”
The SG said, “I was more than demoralised by the manner in which the high court conducted the hearing. I faced constant heckling by a section of lawyers present in the court during the hearing... We have registered 468 FIRs. And those who incited riots will also be brought to book.”
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