Delhi Riots: Court criticizes 'poor' police probe, 'half-baked' chargesheets
A Delhi Court on Saturday slammed the Delhi Police for filing "half-baked" chargesheets in the 2020 Delhi riots case. Stating that the standard of police investigation of such cases was "very poor," the court sought the intervention of the Delhi Police Commissioner to take remedial actions. These observations were made while framing rioting and other charges against accused Ashraf Ali and another accused Parvez.
Pointing out that in most of the cases, investigating officers have not been appearing in court, it said the police does not even bother to take the investigation to its logical end. Meanwhile, the accused continue to languish in jails in multiple cases, it said. The court also urged officers to take note of this observation and take remedial action in this regard.
The case in which the observations were made was registered on the complaint of a constable from the 65th Battalion, which was attacked by a mob during the Delhi riots. The court framed charges against two men under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections pertaining to rioting, voluntarily causing grievous hurt by use of acid, voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty.
The counsel of the accused argued that while the alleged riotous mob consisted of 150-200 people, only the duo has been chargesheeted. "The investigating agency has not been able to identify/apprehend any other accused person in the matter, which...clearly points out their false implication." However, the court refuted the argument and said, "There is enough material on record to frame charges against the accused."
Pulling up investigating officers, the court said, "This case is a glaring example, wherein victims are police personnel itself, yet the IO did not bother to collect the sample of acid...to have its chemical analysis." "The IO has further not bothered to collect the opinion about the nature of injuries." The IOs are not briefing prosecutors for the charges in the case, it added.
The court directed that a copy of the order shall be sent to the Delhi Police Commissioner to take "remedial steps." Stating that the DCP Northeast Delhi district and other officers of Delhi Police must take note of the observations, the court added that failure to take remedial steps would enhance the "likelihood of injustice being caused to the persons involved in these cases."
