‘Standard of investigation poor’: 20 orders on Delhi violence show police claims are falling apart

On August 28, a Delhi court was damning in its remarks about the police investigation on the communal violence that erupted in the capital last year. The Delhi Police had filed “half-baked chargesheets”, said the Karkardooma sessions court. In a large number of cases, the court observed, the “standard of investigation is very poor”.

Protests against the new citizenship law gave rise to a violent backlash last year. In February 2020, this culminated in communal violence that swept across North East Delhi, leaving at least 53 dead, hundreds injured and displaced. A majority of the victims were Muslim.

The police filed nearly 750 cases in the aftermath of the violence, including one under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Some of those who organised protests against the citizenship law were booked under the anti-terror law, with the police accusing them of a conspiracy to trigger violence and overthrow the Narendra Modi government.

However, as of February 2021, only 73 chargesheets were taken cognisance of by the courts. Around 3,500 people had been granted bail by the four courts assigned to handle the cases at the Karkardooma Court Complex in Delhi. Several more have been granted bail over the last seven months, including three student activists booked under the anti-terror law and others charged with…

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