Delhi court questions police's ‘lackadaisical' probe into Kapil Mishra's social media posts in 2020

Scroll.in

27-05-2025

A Delhi court on Monday noted that the police had shown a 'lackadaisical approach' in investigating a case against Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kapil Mishra for allegedly making inflammatory statements ahead of the 2020 Assembly election, The Indian Express reported.
A first information report was filed against Mishra, who is now Delhi's law minister, in January 2020 for allegedly promoting enmity between groups through social media posts under the Representation of the People Act section 125.
In one of the social media posts, Mishra had said that there would be an 'India versus Pakistan contest' in Delhi on February 8, 2020, the day when the Assembly elections were held. He also alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party and Congress had created a 'mini-Pakistan' at Shaheen Bagh, a key site of protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
In another social media post, Mishra alleged that Pakistan had 'made its entry' at Shaheen Bagh, and that many 'mini-Pakistans' had been formed in Delhi.
During a previous hearing of the case, the deputy commissioner of police (northwest) told the court that a request had been sent to microblogging site X for data related to Mishra's posts, the Hindustan Times reported. The official had said that a response from X was awaited.
However, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Vaibhav Chaurasia said on Monday that there had been little progress in the investigation despite the prosecution giving assurances of a thorough and efficient inquiry.
'Before commenting on the lackadaisical conduct of the prosecution, this court is constrained to bring to the notice of the commissioner of Delhi Police the state of affairs and the inadequate explanation on the part of the investigating agency,' the judge said, according to the Hindustan Times.
Chaurasia said that no one was present on behalf of the investigating agency to follow up on the directives to carry out further inquiry. He said the police's explanation was inadequate and that the prosecution had adopted a casual approach with respect to the case, The Indian Express reported.
'It is suggested that if any help from any other ministry is required, this court is of the opinion that the Delhi Police is well equipped to take recourse to the same,' the court was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times. The magistrate attached two previous orders with the directive on Monday, and said that the documents should be sent to the commissioner of police and the joint commissioner of police (northern range).
The case will be heard next on July 7. The magistrate told the police to file a status report by then.
In 2020, a man named Mohammed Ilyas had also filed a complaint against Mishra for his alleged involvement in the violence that broke out in the city in February 2020. Fifty-three people died in violence that erupted in Delhi at the time. The majority of them were Muslims.
Chaurasia, the additional chief judicial magistrate, had on April 1 directed the police to carry out further investigation into the allegations against the BJP leader. However, Additional Sessions Judge Kaweri Baweja stayed the order eight days later.