Pleas relating to Delhi violence reach SC & HC, hearing on Wednesday

The pleas relating to the north-east Delhi violence, which has claimed 10 lives, reached the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court on Tuesday and they will hear the matter on Wednesday.

The first plea was mentioned in the apex court on behalf of former Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah and others who sought direction to the police to lodge FIRs on complaints regarding the ongoing violence over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

A bench comprising Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph will hear it the fresh application on Wednesday when it will also take up the pleas seeking removal of protestors from Shaheen Bagh, on which the court-appointed interlocutors have filed a report in sealed cover.

Shortly after the mentioning in the apex court, a similar plea filed by human rights activist Harsh Mander and activist Farah Naqvi was mentioned before the high court, which also agreed to hear it on Wednesday.

Mander and Naqvi have also sought registration of FIRs and arrest of persons involved in the ongoing violence north-east Delhi over CAA.

The petition before the high court specifically sought action against BJP leaders Anurag Thakur, Parvesh Verma and Kapil Mishra for allegedly making hate speeches and inciting violence.

The fresh application, filed in the apex court by Habibullah, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad and social activist Bahadur Abbas Naqvi, has also sought direction to the authorities to provide adequate security and ensure safety of women protestors at Shaheen Bagh and other places in the national capital.

They have already filed an intervention application in the top court in the pending plea seeking removal of protestors from Shaheen Bagh.

In their fresh application, they have alleged that on February 23, "Kapil Mishra, who is known for making speeches to instigate crowds with violence and vandalism, carried out a pro-CAA rally next to the Maujpur-Babarpur metro station which is 2km away from peaceful protests that were going on at Jaffrabad".

Clashes broke out between groups supporting and opposing the CAA in north-east Delhi's Jafrabad and Maujpur on Monday, with protesters torching houses, shops and vehicles, and hurling stones at each other.

Violence has also been reported in Chandbagh and Bhajanpura areas of the national capital.

Delhi Police head constable, Ratan Lal, was among the 10 persons who have been killed in the violence.