Delhi riots: HC's last chance to parties, matter adjourned till July 27

New Delhi, July 21 The Delhi High Court on Tuesday adjourned till July 27 the hearing on the batch of petitions relating to the riots that broke out in the national capital in February this year, while granting a final opportunity to the parties to file their affidavits and rejoinders.

A division bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan, while allowing an adjournment in the matter, expressed displeasure with the concerned parties and gave them a last opportunity to file their affidavit on or before the coming Friday.

The directions were passed while the bench was hearing a batch of petitions in connection with the riots in Delhi in February.

Recently, the police in its affidavit filed before the court had claimed that the police authorities acted promptly, vigilantly, and effectively without any fear or favour as a result of which the violence could be contained in a few days.

It also stated that the statements of political leaders across party lines are being examined.

"Speeches of political leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Anurag Thakur, Kapil Mishra, Pravesh Verma, Waris Pathan, and others are being examined by the Delhi Police and necessary action in this regard will be taken in due course of time if it is found on the evidence that their speech had any nexus with the riots," the voluminous document filed by the police read.

One of the petitions sought the setting up of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to assess property damage in the riots. The petition also seeks the sale of property to compensate the victims of the communal violence in the national capital.

Communal clashes broke out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after clashes between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control, leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.

( With inputs from IANS )