Delhi court orders further investigation against Kapil Mishra in 2020 riots case

New Delhi: Noting that a cognizable offence was found against him, a Delhi court on Tuesday directed further investigation to be conducted against Delhi law minister Kapil Mishra and others over his alleged involvement in the 2020 northeast Delhi riots. The court of additional chief judicial magistrate Vaibhav Chaurasia of the Rouse Avenue Courts, on the request of reporters present in the court, orally clarified that "this means FIR". The court was hearing an application filed in Aug 2024 by Mohammad Ilyas, a resident of Yamuna Vihar. Ilyas had sought an FIR against Mishra, as well as the then SHO of Dayalpur police station and five others, including BJP Mustafabad MLA Mohan Singh Bisht and former BJP MLAs Jagdish Pradhan and Satpal Sansad. Apart from law and justice, Mishra, who is the Karawal Nagar MLA, also holds charge of the labour and tourism departments.In a 33-page order, ACJM Chaurasia said, "This court directs further investigation in the present case with respect to the first incident against proposed accused no. 2 (Kapil Mishra) and his associates only, with the following mandatory directions to the investigative agency." The judge scheduled April 16 as the date of compliance of the order from DCP North-East. He also directed that the then DCP Ved Prakash Surya be examined, against whom the complainant alleged that he was wandering in the streets saying "if you did not stop this protest, then consequence will happen here that you will be killed"."His (Surya's) personal interrogation is necessary. The series of events reveals that perhaps, if allegations of the complainant are found to be true, then DCP Ved Prakash Surya knows something which this judiciary does not," the judge said. However, if the information was found to be false, then Delhi Police would be at liberty to proceed against the complainant under Section 182 of IPC, the court added. The judge, taking note that Mishra himself acknowledged in the interrogation that he was in Kardampuri area on Feb 23, 2020, so his presence cannot be ruled out, fortifying the allegations of the complainant. The court also observed that Mishra did not frame his statement under "Pro-CAA or Anti CAA but rather Dusri Taraf Muslim" with the distinction of 'us and them', wherein 'them' is "Dusri Taraf Muslim". "This clearly establishes sides and requires investigation to unearth the truth. The complainant's complaint also finds credibility wherein he is referring to associates of proposed accused no. 2, while as would appear on ground, while reading the interrogation it turns out to be 50 to 60 people (more than five persons and known to proposed accused no. 2 as per his admission in interrogation). This clearly qualifies for cognizable offence and is a matter of investigation," the judge said. ACJM Chaurasia, regarding the territorial jurisdiction of Kardampuri Road, directed DCP North-East to send the copy of the order for further investigation to the appropriate police station falling within its jurisdiction. "Failure to do so will bind the DCP concerned as per law on the date of compliance," the judge said. The court, pointing out that Mishra told the police official that he should open the roads, otherwise he would sit in protest, said it had no hesitation to hold that what Mishra made was not a request or assertion, but an "ultimatum". It further noted that if one went through in detail the theories propounded by the prosecution regarding the cause of riots, one would fail to find what was the "immediate cause" for the same. "Whereas the immediate cause for riots is missing, the prosecution was enthusiastic enough to propound a theory to provide a spectacle, the benchmark with which the messages were to be interpreted. It is not denied by the prosecution that the protests were peaceful and escalated only on Feb 24, 2020," said the court. MSID:: 119875804 413 |