NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has directed registration of FIR against the former SHO of Jyoti Nagar police station in the case of a group of men being forced to sing the national anthem and Vande Mataram while lying injured during the 2020 Delhi riots. The court said the cops had “engaged themselves in hate crimes”, reports Vineet Upadhyay.
The court also asked complainant Mohammad Waseem to approach the MP/MLA court to seek registration of an FIR against BJP’s Kapil Mishra who had been identified by him on Feb 24, 2020, as allegedly leading an unlawful assembly. The court said the action taken report was silent about the former MLA and either the investigating officer had failed to conduct an inquiry against him or had tried to cover up the allegations.
Court: Kapil Mishra in public eye, prone to greater scrutiny
The alleged accused no.3 (Kapil Mishra) is in public eye and is prone to more scrutiny; such persons in society direct the course/mood of the public at large and, thus, responsible behaviour within the ambit of Constitution of India is expected from such persons.”
Mishra has been fielded from Karawal Nagar constituency in north-east Delhi by BJP for the assembly elections this month.
“Clearly, the SHO PS Jyoti Nagar, Tomar (complete name not provided) and other unknown police officials engaged themselves in hate crimes against the complainant/victim and they cannot be protected under the garb of sanction as alleged offences committed by them cannot be said to have been committed while acting or purporting to act in the discharge of their official duty,” said the court.
The directions from Udbhav Kumar Jain, judicial magistrate first class, came in an order dated Jan 18 while hearing the complaint filed by Waseem. It had sought filing of FIRs against Mishra, the then SHO and others involved in the alleged crimes committed against him and others.
The court observed that the action taken report filed by the IO merely denied the allegations but had failed to enlist any substantive steps taken for conducting a preliminary inquiry.
“The ATR is also silent on the aspect of CCTV footage pertaining to the date of the alleged incident, which should have been inquired by the IO. Thus, the inquiry pertaining to the alleged acts/offences against the complainant has not been conducted properly,” said the court.
The court directed the current SHO of Jyoti Nagar police station to depute a responsible officer not below the rank of inspector to conduct an investigation in the matter and probe the role of other unknown police officials involved in the commission of the alleged offences.
The court said that the FIR should be registered against the former SHO for offences under Section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code, 1860.
Delhi HC had in August 2024 transferred the probe into the death of 23-year-old Faizan who was part of the group to CBI. It has been alleged that Faizan died due to custodial torture by policemen at the Jyoti Nagar police station.
The incident relates to a video shot during the 2020 Delhi riots that had gone viral on social media. It showed some Delhi Police personnel beating up the men and forcing them to sing the national anthem and Vande Mataram to prove their patriotism. The policemen were also heard hurling communal slurs. Delhi Police had in July last year initiated departmental inquiries against two policemen in the case.