We can’t stop such incidents from taking place — CJI Bobde on Delhi communal riots

CJI S.A. Bobde, while hearing a petition by Delhi riot survivors, said courts 'have limitations' and come into the picture ‘only after such an incident has happened’.

File photo of smoke rising from buildings in Gokulpuri, one of the Northeast Delhi areas worst affected by communal riots in 2020 | Ananya Bhardwaj | ThePrint

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday expressed helplessness with regard to preventing communal riots in Delhi, saying it “cannot stop such incidents from taking place”.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) S.A. Bobde, while hearing senior lawyer Colin Gonsalves who was appearing for 10 survivors of last week’s communal violence in Northeast Delhi, said that courts come into the picture “only after such an incident has happened”.

The observations came days after former Delhi High Court judge and now Punjab and Haryana HC judge Justice S. Muralidhar pulled up the Delhi Police for failing to prevent the riots and said the court will not allow another 1984 Sikh riots to happen in the national capital.

The Supreme Court, however, clarified that it is not saying that “people should die”, but they “cannot give preventive reliefs”.

“We cannot stop such incidents from taking place. We cannot give preventive reliefs. There is a kind of pressure on us… We cannot handle that. It is like the courts are responsible for what happened,” the CJI said.

‘Delhi is under a cloud of fear’

The observations from the CJI came when Gonsalves asked him to urgently intervene and pass directions to prevent communal violence from spreading. He said there were five or six prominent people who were instigating the violence.

Gonsalves was appearing for one Shaikh Mujtaba Farooq and nine other survivors of the Delhi riots, who had filed a PIL seeking immediate FIR against BJP leaders Kapil Mishra, Anurag Thakur, Pravesh Verma and all others who indulged in ‘hate speech’, rioting, murder, arson.

The plea also demanded the formation of an SIT (special investigation team) with officers from outside Delhi to probe the riots, calling in the Army to maintain law and order and forming an inquiry committee headed by a retired judge to probe involvement of policemen, besides exemplary compensation to all victims.

The plea further demanded the government make public a list containing the names of people detained by the police and paramilitary forces, and also preserve all CCTV footage of the riot-affected areas.

Gonsalves argued that close to 10 to 11 people are still dying everyday in Delhi and that the court should take note of it. 

“Delhi is under a cloud of fear. Court should take this up today itself or latest by 3 March,” said Gonsalves.  

To this, the CJI replied the case will be heard but he questioned as to how courts are to be blamed for the riots. 

“We have our limitations. We are reading media reports. But how do we prevent it? We have limitations. There are reports which somehow suggest as if we are responsible for all this (riots),” said Bobde.

Gonsalves also referred to a recent Delhi HC order by a bench led by Chief Justice D.N. Patel where the case of registering FIR for inflammatory speeches was adjourned to April.

“Long adjournments absolutely stagnate the issue of human rights” said Gonsalves. 

The CJI has now listed the matter for 4 March.

The death toll in the violence has climbed to 42. On Sunday, panic gripped several parts of Delhi following rumours of violence. Delhi Police said some “unsubstantiated reports” of tension in southeast and west districts were circulated on social media, and asked people not to pay attention to rumours.