Delhi HC asks court to defer hearing against Kapil Mishra over 2020 poll remarks

Considering the contentions, the court requested the trial court to postpone the hearing to a date after the one set by the high court

The Delhi High Court asked a trial court to defer its hearing on framing charges against Delhi law minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kapil Mishra in a case related to his alleged inflammatory remarks ahead of the 2020 assembly elections.

The next hearing will take place on October 13. (HT file photo)

The direction came from a bench of justice Ravinder Dudeja on Thursday after Mishra’s counsel, senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, argued that the Delhi Police had recently filed a supplementary chargesheet containing files received from social media platform X about Mishra’s account, but the material was in a coded, unreadable format.

Jethmalani submitted that until the prosecution provides a decipherable version of the files, the trial court should not proceed. He also contended that his appeal against a March 7 order of the city court, which refused to quash the proceedings and summons issued to Mishra, would become infructuous if arguments on charge were allowed to begin.

“Since no time is left, it is not possible to hear and dispose of the petition today. The learned trial court is requested to defer the hearing on charge to a date subsequent to the date fixed by this court,” the high court said in its order. The matter will be heard next on October 13.

In his petition, Mishra has maintained that his remarks did not target any caste, community, or religion. He said they only referred to Pakistan and to Shaheen Bagh, the site of anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) protests in southeast Delhi. The tweets, his petition argued, neither intended nor caused enmity or hatred and were aimed at condemning the agitation against the CAA. According to him, they were directed at “anti-social, anti-national elements” trying to disturb peace during the election.

The Delhi Police, however, opposed Mishra’s plea, stating that the tweets had no reference to CAA and were meant to inflame sentiments against two religious communities. On March 18, the high court declined to stay the trial court proceedings, holding that their continuation would not prejudice Mishra’s case.