2020 Delhi riots: High Court rejects petitions seeking FIRs over ‘hate speeches’
The Delhi High Court has dismissed petitions seeking FIRs against various political leaders for alleged hate speech during the 2020 Delhi riots. The court cited political selectivity in the filings and affirmed that the existing investigative processes are sufficient.
Why it matters
The ruling reinforces judicial restraint regarding political speech and maintains the current trajectory of ongoing riot-related criminal investigations.
The Delhi High Court on Monday refused to direct the registration of FIRs against several political leaders over alleged hate speeches during the 2020 north-east Delhi riots, observing that the record indicated an element of “political selectivity” in the manner in which certain individuals and speeches had been singled out for action.
The court also declined to order an SIT or independent probe into the riots, holding that the petitions did not disclose any exceptional circumstance warranting “extraordinary judicial intervention”.
In separate pleas concerning the December 2019 violence at Jamia Millia Islamia, the court refused to order an inquiry into alleged police excesses.
Hearing a batch of petitions filed in 2019 and 2020 over the alleged speeches, a Bench of Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Manoj Jain observed that, in several instances, only excerpts of the purported speeches had been placed on record.
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