The Centre was directed to file replies before the next hearing.

Delhi High Court Adjourns Petitions on Riots Until March 12

Delhi high court. Photo: PTI

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday adjourned pleas on violence in northeast Delhi and hate speeches by political leaders on March 12, directing the Centre to file replies before the hearing.

A bench headed by Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice C. Hari Shankar listed the PIL seeking lodging of FIRs and arrests in the violence in northeast Delhi and alleged hate speeches made by political figures for March 12.

It may be recollected that on Wednesday, the Supreme Court had directed the Delhi HC to list the pleas on Friday, saying the earlier date of April 13 and the long period of adjournment was ‘unjustified‘.

The original petition was filed by civil rights activist Harsh Mander, seeking the registration of FIRs against BJP leaders Anurag Thakur, Parvesh Verma and Kapil Mishra. He also sought an independent enquiry into the riots. Another petition was moved by Rahul Roy, seeking medical and humanitarian intervention for displaced persons and victims.

According to LiveLaw, the court on Friday issued notice in a plea filed by CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat, seeking compliance with section 41C of the Criminal Procedure Code. This section mandates the police to display the names of the arrested persons on notice boards at the control rooms.

Several intervention applications have been filed in the plea seeking FIRs for hate speeches.

In a separate case, the high court on Friday directed all the hospitals to videograph post-mortems of those killed during the riots in northeast Delhi last week.

A bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and I.S. Mehta directed the authorities to preserve the DNA samples of all the bodies and not dispose of any unidentified body till Wednesday [February 11], the next date of hearing.

The directions came while hearing a habeas corpus plea filed by a man seeking the whereabouts of his brother-in-law, who went missing during the riots.

During the hearing, the court was informed by the police that the body of the missing person, Hamza, was recovered from a drain at Gokulpuri on Monday. News agency PTI reported that his post-mortem would be conducted during the day at the RML Hospital.