Delhi High Court Seeks Centre's Response On Plea For Quashing Delhi Minorities Commission & Others' Reports on Delhi Riots

The plea, filed by a riots victim, claims that the organizations which are admittedly self-constituted, are running a parallel fact-finding exercise and hampering investigation in the cases. The centre through Solicitor General Tushar Mehta took the view that the matter would need examination. As such, the court has posted the matter for further hearing on Mar 26.

A bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh was hearing the case, on which the Chief also questioned the Solicitor General who had constituted these bodies.

"Your Lordship, they are self-constituted", replied Mehta. He also added that several other petitioners, who have filed writ petitions in the High Court "making wild allegations" about riots, have contributed to the reports, and if that is the case, "they (the reports) are vitiated."

The petitioner victim, Dharmesh Sharma, has sought the declaration of any such reports by any private organisations or any private tribunal established without any authority of law, to be non-est, void and prayed that they ought not be relied upon by any judicial forum adjudicating cases of Delhi riots, as they subvert the due process of law, and impede the right to a fair trial.

The plea also seeks quashing of several private reports on the Delhi Riots, on grounds of being biased, of favouring the minority communities and prejudicing the rights of the majority community. Some reports named include the Report published by the Human Rights Watch titled as "Shoot the Traitors – Discrimination against Muslims under India's New Citizenship Policy‟, Citizens and Lawyers Initiative titled as "Delhi Riots of February 2020- Causes, Fallout and Aftermath‟; Amensty International India; Constitutional Conduct Group Report titled "Citizens Committee on the Delhi Riots of February 2020: Context, Events and Aftermath".

"Form and content of the reports are designed in such a fashion so as to deceive the judicial forums and the public at large and to pass-off the same (in a deceptive manner) in a manner to prejudice the general public and world at large against the investigations and subsequent proceedings in accordance with law. Not only this , the said reports have been arrived at by individuals who have acted as, extra-constitutional private tribunals and have sought to give credence to their reports by attaching their former constitutional and executive posts," the petition stated.