A Delhi court Today (April 21) extended the stay on investigating Law Minister Kapil Mishra’s alleged role in the 2020 Delhi riots. The extension was granted as court notices couldn’t be served to all parties.
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NEW DELHI: A Delhi court today decided to extend the stay on the further investigation into Law Minister Kapil Mishra’s alleged involvement in the 2020 northeast Delhi riots.
The investigation will now remain paused until May 7. This decision was made on Monday by Special Judge Kaveri Baweja.
The court had earlier sent notices to some people involved in the matter on April 9, but it was informed during the hearing that these notices could not be delivered. Due to this, Judge Baweja decided to continue the stay on the investigation.
This case began after Kapil Mishra filed an application against an order made by a magistrate court, which had allowed further probe against him. On April 9, the same day the notices were issued, the judge had temporarily stopped the investigation till April 21.
The judge had said the respondents, including Mohammad Ilyas, must reply to the court notice by April 21. Since the notice was not served properly, the stay has now been extended.
Senior advocate P. K. Dubey represented Kapil Mishra in court, while Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad appeared on behalf of the Delhi Police.
Earlier, on April 1, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Vaibhav Chaurasia observed that there was enough basis to believe that a cognisable offence might have taken place, and it needed proper investigation.
He said,
“It is clear that Mishra was in the area at the time of alleged offence. Further probe required.”
This observation came while the magistrate was hearing a petition filed by Mohammad Ilyas, a resident of Yamuna Vihar, who had asked the court to direct the police to register an FIR (First Information Report) against Kapil Mishra.
However, the Delhi Police opposed this request and told the court that Kapil Mishra had no role in the violence that took place during the northeast Delhi riots.
PREVIOUSLY IN DELHI COURT
A Delhi court on April 10th decided to pause (stay) the order of further investigation against Delhi Law Minister Kapil Mishra until April 21, 2025. This decision was taken on Wednesday after Mishra challenged a lower court’s direction that asked for deeper investigation into his alleged involvement in the February 2020 riots in northeast Delhi.
This stay was granted by Special Judge Kaveri Baweja, who heard Mishra’s plea against the earlier decision given by a magisterial court. Mishra had approached the court to stop further legal action against him in this case.
Along with granting the stay, the court has also sent a notice to Mohammad Ilyas, who is the complainant in the case. Ilyas is the one who requested the FIR (First Information Report) against Mishra and others. The judge asked Ilyas to give his response to Mishra’s petition by April 21.
Earlier, on April 1, 2025, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Vaibhav Chaurasia had said that there was a need for more investigation into the case. The judge observed that there was enough early evidence to suggest that a serious (cognisable) offence might have taken place.
“It is clear that Mishra was in the area at the time of alleged offence… further probe required,”
-the judge had said in his order.
According to the police, however, Mishra did not play any role in the 2020 riots. They opposed Ilyas’ request for registering an FIR and conducting a fresh investigation against Mishra.
The violence in northeast Delhi happened on February 24, 2020, during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). This tragic incident led to the death of 53 people and left many others injured.
The police also informed the court that “a plan” was being “hatched to shift the blame on Mishra.” They said that the law minister’s role was already examined during the earlier probe into the larger conspiracy behind the riots.
The police added more details from their investigation, saying:
“The chats of the DPSG (Delhi protest support group) show that the chakka jams were planned well in advance, as early as February 15 and 17, 2020. Police investigation had revealed that a plan was hatched to shift the blame on Mishra.”
Mohammad Ilyas had demanded that an FIR should be filed not only against Kapil Mishra but also against the then Station House Officer (SHO) of Dayalpur police station and five other people. These include current BJP MLA Mohan Singh Bisht and two former BJP MLAs — Jagdish Pradhan and Satpal Sansad.
Now, the next hearing in this case is scheduled for April 21, when the court will hear Ilyas’ side and decide the next steps. Until then, no new investigation will be done against Kapil Mishra in this matter.
PREVIOUSLY IN DELHI HC
The Delhi High Court declined to halt the trial court proceedings against Delhi Minister Kapil Mishra concerning a 2020 FIR related to his alleged communal tweets.
The court has issued a notice regarding Mishra’s appeal challenging the rejection of his plea against the summons.
Justice Ravinder Dudeja also issued notice to Delhi Police on the BJP leader’s plea challenging a sessions court order that had dismissed his petition against the summons issued to him by a magisterial court in the case.
“There is no need to stay the trial court proceedings. There is no stoppage of proceedings. This court does not feel it (is) necessary to stay the proceedings. The trial court is at liberty to proceed further with the matter,”
-the judge said.
In January 2020, ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections, Mishra referred to the Muslim-populated area of Shaheen Bagh as “mini-Pakistan” and remarked that the polls would be a contest between “India and Pakistan.”
He tweeted,
“Delhi mein chote chote Pakistan bane (Delhi will become mini-Pakistan) and Shaheen Bagh mein Pak ki entry (Shaheen Bagh will serve as entry for Pakistan).”
These statements led to an FIR under Section 125 of the Representation of People Act, 1951, for promoting enmity between classes to gain an advantage during the elections.
In June 2024, Mishra was summoned by the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate. He challenged this summons, but on March 7, 2025, Special Judge Jitendra Singh dismissed his plea. The judge noted that Mishra’s usage of the word ‘Pakistan’ to refer to a Muslim-populated area was
“a brazen attempt to promote enmity on the grounds of religion.”
The court observed that there has been an increasing trend in India to resort to communally charged speeches to garner votes during elections, stating that the divide and rule policy of the colonialists is still in practice.
Mishra’s counsel argued that a comment regarding a country would not constitute an offense under Section 125 of the RP Act. However, the court rejected this submission, deeming it
“preposterous and outrightly untenable.”
The court stated that the implicit reference to a particular country in the alleged statement is an unmistakable innuendo to persons of a particular religious community, apparent to generate enmity amongst religious communities.
The court further rejected Mishra’s submission that since the offense under Section 125 of the RP Act is punishable with imprisonment only up to three years, the trial court was wrong to treat it as a cognizable offense. The court stated that the Election Commission is under a constitutional obligation to prevent candidates from indulging in vitriolic vituperation with impunity, vitiating and contaminating the atmosphere for free and fair elections.
In January 2020, Mishra was banned by the Election Commission from campaigning for 48 hours after he compared the Delhi Assembly elections to an “India vs Pakistan” contest. He is also widely accused of instigating the 2020 Delhi violence, which resulted in at least 53 deaths, mostly Muslims, along with targeted attacks against mosques, shops, homes, and other properties.
Despite overwhelming evidence, Delhi police reportedly refused to register a case against Mishra for his alleged role in the violence, and multiple pleas against him are pending in various Delhi courts.
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