This is an archive article published on February 1, 2025
2020 Delhi Riots | Hate crime, book SHO: Delhi court on forced singing of anthem
Police have to submit a compliance report by February 11. Senior officers said Friday the FIR has not been registered yet and legal options are being explored.
ACTING ON a complaint which accused police of assaulting five men and forcing them to sing the National Anthem during the2020 Northeast Delhi riots, a Delhi court has called the police action a “hate crime” and ordered an FIR against the SHO of the local police station.
A video of the incident shows police personnel assaulting the five men, including complainant Mohd Wasim, and forcing them to sing the National Anthem and Vande Mataram.
In his January 18 order, Judicial Magistrate First Class Udbhav Kumar Jain of Karkardooma Court directed police to file an FIR under IPC sections 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation) against the officer who held the SHO post at Jyoti Nagar police station in February-March 2020.
“The current SHO is directed to depute a responsible officer, not below the rank of Inspector, to conduct investigation in the present matter, and role of other unknown police officials involved in the commission of alleged offences can be ascertained during investigation,” the order said.
Police have to submit a compliance report by February 11. Senior officers said Friday the FIR has not been registered yet and legal options are being explored.
On the SHO’s role, the order said, “Clearly, the SHO PS Jyoti Nagar, Mr Tomar (complete name not provided) and other unknown police officials engaged themselves in hate crimes against the complainant/victim and they cannot be protected under the garb of sanction as alleged offences committed by them cannot be said to have been committed while acting or purporting to act in the discharge of their official duty.”
Wasim had approached the court when an FIR was not registered based on his complaint. He was represented by Advocate Mehmood Pracha.
In the complaint, Wasim alleged that when he left his house on February 24, 2020 around 3:30 pm to look for his mother in the midst of the riots, he saw a group of people wearing saffron scarves on the road along with Delhi Police officers.
As per the complaint, on which the court relied, Wasim also saw former MLA Kapil Mishra, now a BJP member, with a loudspeaker in hand. It was alleged that Mishra fired gun shots at the protesters. The complainant alleged that after this, the SHO told his personnel to throw Wasim at a place where other injured people were lying.
The court observed that the Delhi Police’s action taken report (ATR), which it had sought, was silent on Mishra’s alleged role. “…it seems that the IO was more concerned about the police officials and either he failed to make an inquiry against the alleged accused no.3 (Mishra), or he tried to cover up the allegations against the said accused,” JMFC Jain said.
“The alleged accused no.3 (Kapil Mishra) is in public eyes and is prone to more scrutiny; such persons in society direct the course/mood of the public at large and thus, responsible behaviour within the ambit of the Constitution of India is expected from such persons,” it said, directing the complainant to approach the concerned MP/MLA court for seeking an FIR against Mishra.
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“Scathing remarks which have the effect of affecting communal harmony are undemocratic and uncalled for from a citizen of this country where principles like Secularism hold the value of basic feature imbibed in the Constitution,” the court said.
In February 2020, amid the riots in Northeast Delhi, a group of Delhi Police personnel were seen on camera beating and abusing five men, including a man called Faizan, prodding them with sticks as they lay on the ground. Faizan later died.
In his case, Delhi Police had in July last year initiated departmental inquiries against two policemen. The High Court had in the same month directed the CBI to probe Faizan’s death.
Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023.
Professional Background
Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University.
Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories.
Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts.
Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials.
Recent notable articles
In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories.
1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey.
2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation.
3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police.
Signature Style
Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public.
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