The Delhi High Court on Thursday said that it cannot wait “endlessly” for a forensic report in the case of a man who was allegedly beaten and forced to sing the national anthem during the 2020 riots, and died as a consequence of his injuries later.
Kismatun, the mother of the deceased man, Faizan, had moved the Delhi High Court in 2020, seeking a court-monitored SIT probe into the death of her 23-year-old son. A purported video that surfaced during the riots showed Faizan, along with four young Muslim men, being beaten up by policemen who were forcing them to sing the national anthem.
The petitioner claimed that fatal injuries, suffered by her son due to police beatings, was the reason for his death. She also alleged that police denied him medical treatment, following which he succumbed to the injuries on February 26, 2020.
Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani has listed the matter for April 3 for in-chamber hearing of a plea for an impartial probe.
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The Delhi police submitted in the court that forensic analysis of video footage was yet to be concluded by the National Forensic Sciences University in Gujarat. The analysis was initially done in Delhi as well.
“I will have to put a stop to the whole forensic examination that is going on in Gujarat. I can’t wait for it endlessly,” the court said adding that the it will not take a view of the forensic report in the case since it must come within a designated time.
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The analysis of the videos was pending for almost 10 months.
The counsel of the petitioner submitted before the court that the forensic report is not needed for the plea of seeking an SIT probe in the case.
Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad said he would proceed without waiting for the report any longer and urged the court to permit him to make submission in-chamber without the presence of the petitioner or her lawyer as the matter pertains to “wider investigation”.
It had been four years since the Delhi riots that broke on February 23, 2020, between pro- and anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protesters in North East Delhi. The clashes continued for the next couple of days and spread in to areas like Jafrabad, Seelampur, Bhajanpura, Karawal Nagar, Khazoori Khas, Gokal Puri, and Dayalpur. The riots saw 53 people lose their lives, including a policeman and an IB personnel, and witnessed hundreds injured, as well as public and private properties destroyed.
The police had earlier submitted in the court that records pertaining to the particular case are safe and also that the investigation had “zeroed down a head constable making the video”. The submission had also denied any assault on the victim, and added that no stone was being left unturned in the probe.
