A Delhi court on Friday declined to direct the registration of a first information report (FIR) against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Delhi minister Kapil Mishra over his alleged role in the 2020 Delhi riots.
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Ashwani Panwar passed the order while hearing an application filed by Mohammed Ilyas seeking a direction to the Delhi Police to register an FIR against Mishra.
The court said such a direction was “legally impermissible” in light of a sessions court order dated November 11, which had set aside an earlier ruling that asked police to probe Mishra’s alleged involvement in the violence.
Panwar observed that the sessions court’s findings were binding and had attained finality.
The magistrate said the application would instead be treated as a private complaint, allowing the complainant to present evidence in support of his allegations under provisions of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.
Ilyas had approached the court after police allegedly declined to register a case against Mishra in connection with the riots that broke out in northeast Delhi in February 2020, in which 53 people were killed.
According to the complaint, Ilyas had approached the police multiple times seeking registration of an FIR against Mishra but was told that action would be taken only against unidentified rioters.
The Delhi Police has previously maintained that there was an attempt to falsely implicate Mishra in the riots.
Earlier, in April, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vaibhav Chaurasiya had directed the police to investigate the allegations, stating that there was sufficient material to examine whether a cognisable offence had been committed. Mishra challenged that order before a sessions court.
In November, the sessions court set aside the direction, saying the application did not clearly disclose a cognisable offence.
The violence in northeast Delhi in February 2020, widely known as the 2020 Delhi riots, left 53 people dead and dozens injured.