Delhi Riots: Court Raps Delhi Police For Failure To File Supplementary Chargesheet Citing G20 Summit, Says ‘Striking A Balance’ Must

A Delhi Court on Tuesday rapped the Delhi Police for its failure in filing a supplementary chargesheet in a 2020 North-East Delhi riots case as the investigating officer was "busy in the G20 Summit" which was held in the national capital on 9-10 September.

Not being satisfied with the reason of being busy with the Summit, Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala said:

“It is never expected that police organisation will be at ease at any point of time, keeping in view the peculiar nature of their job. Law and order management and the investigation of a case, have to be taken along by the police agency by striking a balance. The long period given by the court to fulfill the job, must be utilized accordingly.”

The development ensued in FIR 188 of 2020 registered at Khajuri Khas police station on the complaint of one Sameeja alleging vandalism of her house by a riotous mob. Later, 10 more people approached the Delhi Police with similar complaints which were clubbed in the FIR.

On July 20, time was sought by SHO and IO to file a fresh supplementary chargesheet and application for return of complaint made by one Pappan.

However, yesterday, Special Public Prosecutor Naresh Kumar Gaur told court that the SHO was busy in the Delhi High Court and the IO was “beyond contact” probably being busy in the G20 Summit, due to which neither the supplementary chargesheet nor the application could be filed.

“In this case, charges could not be framed till date, due to incomplete job done by police and the reluctance to do the needful cannot be appreciated,” the judge said.

The court referred the matter to the concerned DCP of North-East Delhi to ensure that the “undone job is done complete” in terms of its previous order before October 06, the next date of hearing.