SG criticises ‘rushed’ hearing in HC

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Delhi high court to fast-track hearing on PILs seeking registration of FIRs against BJP functionaries Kapil Mishra , Anurag Thakur and Parvesh Verma for making allegedly inflammatory speeches, including “desh ke gaddaron ko...” slogans, which petitioners say went viral and caused riots in Delhi.Transferring a petition filed by riot victims led by Aurangabad-based Shaikh Mujtaba Farooq for hearing to the Delhi HC, with a request to hear it on Friday along with pending petitions adjourned to April 13, a bench of CJI S A Bobde and Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant said, “We think adjournment for a long period was unjustified. But, at the same time, adhering to judicial discipline, we will not assume jurisdiction over the matter when the HC is already dealing with it.” It said, “Delhi HC is requested to dispose of the matters as expeditiously as possible on their own merits and in accordance with law. The HC 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 and Delhi government, criticised the rushed hearing before Delhi high court last month before a bench headed by Justice S Muralidhar , prior to his transfer to Punjab and Haryana high court. Later, a bench headed by Chief Justice D N Patel adjourned hearing to April 13.“We told the court that we have to go through 7,000 videos and over 1,000 speeches, which were inflammatory. We also told them that the situation is not conducive for registration of an FIR as we are trying to restore law and order and 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 and 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 and 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 is not always true. Speaking generally and 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 and the riots flared up.”Gonsalves said, “When leaders stand next to police and say police are with them and 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 FIR then?”Gonsalves replied, “We didn’t think the slogan would go viral and cause riots. We thought it to be a political stunt. But we were demoralised by the HC adjourning the hearing to April 13. The high court took the same approach in police lathi charge on Jamia students. The court heard the case on December 19 and then adjourned it to February 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.”