Cops probing north-east Delhi riots case without knowing details: City court

Additional sessions judge Amitabh Rawat said instead of investigating the complaint given by a man named Salim, the police were more interested in looking into the identity of the complainant and the accused.

A Delhi court pulled up the city police for “investigating for nine months a north-east Delhi riots case without even knowing the case details” and upheld an order by the metropolitan magistrate who directed an FIR in the case in November 2020.

A general view of Karawal Nagar, a year after the 2020 Delhi riots. (Amal KS / HT Photo)

Additional sessions judge Amitabh Rawat said instead of investigating the complaint given by a man named Salim, the police were more interested in looking into the identity of the complainant and the accused.

The court’s order comes while hearing an appeal by the Delhi Police challenging the November 23, 2020, order of the metropolitan magistrate to register an FIR on Salim’s complaint.

Salim, through advocate Mehmood Pracha, claimed in his complaint that there was an attempt on his life by certain named and unnamed people on February 24, 2020, during the riots.

Salim also alleged that there was an attack on his house, as well as firing, stone pelting and intimidation.

He said despite repeated complaints, no case was registered against the accused he named in his complaint.

On August 25, the court said the reason assigned by the investigating officer (IO) for not registering an FIR was that the alleged accused persons were complainants and witnesses in other cases.

“The entire focus is upon the complainant and accused rather than the alleged offence. Without an investigation, which can only begin after registration of a case, the allegations are given a quietus (death). It must be stated, in no uncertain terms, that not only did police object to the registration of the FIR but also side stepped the allegations contained in the complaint,” Rawat said.

He said there was no illegality, impropriety or infirmity in the magistrate court’s order and directed the deputy commissioner of police (north-east Delhi) to register a FIR within seven days.

The judge said the stand of the special public prosecutor that the investigating officer (IO) inadvertently forgot to mention in his status report that Salim’s complaint was clubbed with another case was “ludicrous as it is preposterous”.

“If this is to be accepted at face value, then what it means is that the IO/SHO concerned did not even know about the case between March and November 2020 during which they filed reply and participated in the proceedings before the magistrate, and it was only at the time of filing of the present revision petition did they somehow come to realise that they are already investigating the matter.

“This leads to a conclusion that though the case is being investigated by the police, the police did not itself know that they were investigating the case and when told came to realise that it is investigating the matter, the details of which they do not know,” the court observed.

Communal riots broke out in north-east Delhi in February last year, claiming 53 lives and leaving over 600 injured.