Delhi HC Rejects Pleas Seeking Independent Probe into 2020 Riots, FIRs Over Alleged Hate Speeches

A Bench of Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Manoj Jain dismissed the petitions, including pleas seeking the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) or a judicially monitored committee to examine the riots and allegations concerning the conduct of the Delhi Police. A detailed judgment is awaited.

The petitions relating to the North-East Delhi riots included demands for FIRs against BJP leaders Kapil Mishra, Anurag Thakur, Parvesh Verma and Abhay Verma over alleged hate speeches. Some pleas also sought action against police personnel accused of failing to discharge their duties during the violence.

The petitioners had sought an independent SIT comprising officers from outside Delhi or an investigation by a judicially headed body to examine the circumstances surrounding the riots and allegations against the Delhi Police.

A separate petition filed by Lawyers' Voice sought action over alleged hate speeches attributed to several political and public figures, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Manish Sisodia, Amanatullah Khan, Asaduddin Owaisi and Warris Pathan, among others.

CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat had also approached the court seeking an independent investigation into allegations of offences and atrocities allegedly committed by Delhi Police personnel, Rapid Action Force personnel and other state officials during the riots.

Another petition filed by activist Ajay Gautam sought an investigation by the National Investigation Agency into the alleged funding and sponsorship of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. The plea alleged an international conspiracy and foreign funding behind the protests.

The court was also considering petitions seeking an independent judicial inquiry and court-monitored investigation into the violence at Jamia Millia Islamia in December 2019, when students were protesting against the CAA.

Several students and other petitioners had sought an SIT to investigate allegations of police excesses inside the university during the protests.

The court's decision comes amid continuing litigation concerning the alleged role of political leaders in the 2020 riots and questions raised by petitioners over the adequacy of investigations into the violence, which resulted in more than 50 deaths and left hundreds injured.

In a related development, a Delhi special court in November 2025 set aside an order directing further investigation into the alleged role of then BJP leader Kapil Mishra in connection with the riots.

Special Judge Vinay Singh of the Rouse Avenue Courts had allowed revision petitions filed by the Delhi Police and Mishra, setting aside the directions issued by an Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate and holding them to be illegal, without jurisdiction and unsustainable in law.