New Delhi: The Supreme Court has given the Delhi High Court three months to decide on a plea seeking a FIR against four BJP leaders, including Union Minister Anurag Thakur, over alleged hate speeches and comments that incited the 2020 Delhi riots.The plea – by three victims of the violence that engulfed Delhi last year – sought registration of a FIR and an investigation by a special investigation team (SIT) against the BJP’s Kapil Mishra, Parvesh Verma and Abhay Verma, as well as Sports Minister Anurag Thakur.A two-member bench of the top court – Justice L Nageswara Rao and Justice BR Gavai – has asked the Delhi High Court to hear the matter expeditiously, “preferably within three months”.This was after the riot victims said the High Court was “delaying proceedings”.The petitioners also sought the constitution of an independent SIT – with officers from outside Delhi – to investigate cases connected to the violence in the national capital.”Petitioners are losing hope. What justice for Jamia students? What justice for Delhi riots victims? Students were brutally beaten… heads cracked,” senior advocate Colin Gonsalves said.”The High Court is delaying proceedings despite earlier direction by the Supreme Court (in March last year) to the High Court to decide matters in a time-bound manner,” he said.To this the Supreme Court said it was “not inclined to entertain this writ petition”.”We request the High Court to decide on the writ petition expeditiously… preferably within a period of three months,” Justices Rao and Gavai said.On March 4 last year the Supreme Court had asked the Delhi High Court to decide on the matter “as expeditiously as possible”. The court said the “long adjournment was not justified”.Mr Gonsalves told the top court today the High Court had then said the matter would be heard after petitions seeking a probe into alleged police atrocities on the Jamia Milia Islamia campus in December 2019 – part of the violence that broke out during anti-citizenship law protests.”However, even the Jamia matter is not progressing…” Mr Gonsalves submitted.
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