The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked Delhi Police to submit the latest position of cases relating to incidents of violence on the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) campus in December 2019 during the student protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
A Bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh said the police should inform it about the status of cases that were going on in the trial court, including the number of chargesheets filed, charges framed, trial commenced, and the number of witnesses examined.
As the counsel for Delhi Police sought time to gather the information, the HC posted the case for further hearing on December 23.
The HC was hearing a batch of petitions, moved by lawyers, students of JMI, and residents of Okhla in south Delhi, seeking setting up of a judicial commission to look into the Jamia violence and registration of FIRs against the erring police officers.
Delhi Police had earlier defended its decision to enter the campus of the university during the violence that occurred in December, saying it was done to control the “aggravated form of unlawful assembly”.
The petitioners had said that there was a need for an SIT that was independent of the police and the Central Government, which by their conduct had shown that their investigation into the violence was “not independent”.
They had also argued for a fact-finding committee saying the same was suggested by the Supreme Court and setting up such a body would “be the best way to soothe or put balm on the wounds of the students”.
