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Synopsis

The Delhi High Court on Monday sought the Delhi government's response to the recommendations given by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in its 2020 report on the violence at Jamia Millia Islamia in December 2019 in connection with the protest against CAA-NRC.

A division bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain also permitted the Delhi Police to file the original complaint filed before the NHRC and other relevant documents.

The bench directed the Delhi government to file its response within two weeks. The matter is scheduled for further consideration on March 14.

During today's hearing, the Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) for the Delhi Police, Rajat Nair, informed the court that none of the alleged victims of the reported violence are currently traceable.

Nair further provided information about the actions taken against the erring police officials in connection with the incident. He emphasized that while an investigation and disciplinary measures were underway, he asserted that the police had not committed any egregious acts and employed "commensurate" force in response to the students' engagement in violence.

According to the details presented to the court, the students from the university reportedly evacuated the campus, took to the streets, and engaged in acts of burning buses and vehicles, disregarding the orders from the police.

Nair outlined the sequence of events, highlighting that the police responded to the students' violent actions with force deemed appropriate for the situation. He submitted that the police's actions were a measured response to the unruly behavior exhibited by the students.

The court was hearing a batch of petitions filed by Nabila Hasan, Bahadur Abbas Naqvi, and others seeking actions against the Delhi police over the violence and raising questions over the extreme physical force used against the protesters.

On October 28, a division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad transferred a batch of petitions pertaining to JMI University violence of 2019 that took place during the Anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests to the bench headed by Justice Siddharth Mridul.

Earlier, on October 19, a division bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Vikram Nath of the Supreme Court had ordered, “We request the High Court to hear out the matter early regarding the fact that these matters are pending before the High Court for some time now.”

Background:

On December 12, the students of Jamia Milia Islamia University were protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Bill, which was passed by both houses of parliament on December 9, 2019. The bill became Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) after it was signed by the President on December 12. Large protests and rallies were organized at many places on the university campuses against the CAA.

Case Title: Nabila Hasan & Ors. v. Union of India & Anr.  (and a batch of connected matters)