New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the police to take a "conscious decision" with respect to the registration of FIRs against the alleged hate speeches by three BJP leaders in connection with the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) violence. It asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to convey this message to the Police Commissioner who has been asked to file a response by 3pm on Thursday, when the court will next hear the case.
The three BJP leaders are -- Kapil Mishra, Anurag Thakur and Parvesh Verma.
Mishra has been blamed for the violence in Northeast Delhi that started on Sunday, after his open call to forcibly remove protesters from various sites hosting anti-CAA agitations. The Congress and the CPI(M) have asked the BJP to take action Mishra who contested the recently-concluded Delhi Assembly elections and lost.
Thakur, also named in the court order, at an election rally earlier this month had also made incendiary statements. While the junior finance minister raised the slogan "Desh ke gaddaron ko... (the traitors of the country)", the crowd responded by chanting: "Goli maaro saalon ko... (shoot them)."
Verma, meanwhile, on several occasions had described Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as "a terrorist".
All three BJP leaders were banned by the Election Commission from campaigning for varying periods.
On Wednesday, a bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Anup J Bhambhani took on record the assurance by special commissioner Praveer Ranjan that he will sit with the police commissioner today itself and view all video clips and take a conscious decision on lodging of FIRs. The court also issued notices to the parties concerned on the plea filed by the Centre seeking to be impleaded in the case.
In an apparent response to the court's direction, Mishra tweeted minutes later in Hindi: "It is our right to get the roads opened. I haven't violated any law. I was performing my duty. Truth and 'dharma' will prevail."
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