The Supreme Court remarked on Friday while requesting a report from the police officer looking into the cases that hate speeches were made at religious gatherings in the nation’s capital in 2021 that “no palpable progress” had been made by the Delhi Police.
The incident pertained to December 2021 and the FIR in the case was lodged on May 4, last year, the top court said, adding, “Why do you need five months for lodging an FIR. How many arrests have been made”. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha said “there was no palpable progress made in the investigation”.
After hearing from the Investigating Officer (IO) of the Delhi Police on the case’s current state of inquiry, the bench ordered Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj to file an affidavit within two weeks.
A contempt petition filed by activist Tushar Gandhi accusing Uttarakhand and the Delhi Police of negligence in cases involving alleged hate speech was being heard by the top court. The Uttarakhand government and the police chief were removed from the list of parties in the contempt plea by the bench on November 11 of last year.
The police chiefs of Delhi and Uttarakhand were accused of failing to act in the cases in accordance with the ruling rendered by the supreme court in the Tehseen Poonawala case, and a petition for contempt was filed to punish them.
The top court had established rules for how to respond to hate crimes, including mob lynchings. According to the rules established to stop hate speech and lynching, the activist requested contempt proceedings against senior police officials for failing to take any action in the matter.
Gandhi had demanded that the police personnel be held in contempt for their failure to respond to incidents of hate speech. The argument stated in the plea was that the speeches were made available and in the public domain right away after the events, yet the Uttarakhand Police and the Delhi Police did not take action against the offenders.
According to the plea, hateful speeches were made at the “dharam sansad” in Haridwar from December 17 to December 19 and in Delhi on December 19, 2021.
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