Delhi: High Court To Hear Pleas On Violence, Hate Speeches On March 12, Directs Hospitals To Videograph Autopsies

The Delhi High Court on Friday directed all the hospitals to videograph post-mortems of those killed during the communal violence in northeast Delhi last week. A bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and IS Mehta directed the authorities to preserve the DNA samples of all the bodies and not dispose of any unidentified body till Wednesday, the next date of hearing.

The directions came while hearing a habeas corpus plea by a man seeking the whereabouts of his brother-in-law who went missing during the riots over the amended citizenship law.

During the hearing, the court was informed by the police that the body of the missing person, Hamza, was recovered from a drain at Gokulpuri on Monday and his post-mortem would be conducted during the day at the RML Hospital.

In another hearing, Delhi High Court listed the pleas on violence in northeast Delhi and hate speeches by political leaders on March 12. A bench headed by Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar listed the PIL seeking lodging of FIRs and arrests in the communal violence in northeast Delhi over the amended citizenship law and alleged hate speeches by political figures for March 12.

The death toll in northeast Delhi's communal violence stands at 44, with over 200 injured.

The plea has sought lodging of FIRs against three BJP leaders -- Anurag Thakur, Parvesh Verma and Kapil Mishra -- over their alleged hate speeches.

It has also sought FIRs against other political figures, including Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

One of the pleas, by a lawyers' group, has sought lodging of FIRs against the Congress leaders as well as Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan, AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi and former AIMIM MLA Waris Pathan for allegedly making hate speeches.

The court had earlier issued notice to the Centre, the Delhi government and the police on three separate applications by Sanjjiiv Kkumaar, Vishnu Gupta and Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad, who have sought to intervene in a petition moved early this week for lodging FIRs against the three BJP leaders for alleged hate speeches.

Kkumaar, in his application, has also sought FIRs against AAP leader Amanatullah Khan, Bollywood actor Swara Bhasker and radio jockey Sayema for alleged hate speeches by them.

He has sought an FIR against activist Harsh Mander, who had filed the petition seeking FIRs against BJP leaders Anurag Thakur, Parvesh Verma and Kapil Mishra.