Delhi HC Dismisses Jamia, Delhi Riots Pleas Seeking Action Against Sonia Gandhi, Anurag Thakur And Others

The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed a batch of petitions that sought an independent probe into alleged police excesses against students at Jamia Millia Islamia in 2019 and related allegations tied to the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots. The pleas had been pending since 2020.

A bench of Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Manoj Jain dismissed all the petitions. The matters arose from the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens (CAA-NRC), and from demands for wider investigation into the Delhi riots.

The ruling closes a long-pending set of cases that sought action against police officers, politicians and alleged rioters. It also comes while related issues raised in one of the petitions remain pending before the Supreme Court.

Petitions And Demands

The pleas were filed by different petitioners. Former Rajya Sabha member and CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat and socioreligious organisation Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind asked for an inquiry into police conduct over alleged “inaction and apathy” and into political leaders over alleged “hate speeches”.

Another set of pleas asked for a probe against the alleged rioters. These also sought a National Investigation Agency probe into the alleged funding and sponsoring of the riots, and action against Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.

Lawyers’ Voice, a registered society co-founded by now sitting High Court judge Justice Ajay Digpaul, and Delhi resident Ajay Gautam moved those pleas. AIMIM leader Shaikh Mujtaba Farooq separately asked for a probe outside the Delhi Police, to be carried out by a Special Investigation Team with officers from outside the state.

Karat Case History

Karat’s plea goes back to 2020. She moved a magistrate court that year seeking action against then BJP minister Anurag Thakur and then BJP Lok Sabha MP Parvesh Verma for allegedly inciting communal enmity through hate speeches.

The magistrate court dismissed that application in August 2020. Karat then challenged the order in the Delhi High Court.

In June 2022, the High Court upheld the magistrate court’s order. An appeal against that High Court dismissal is now pending before the Supreme Court.

Earlier High Court View

The High Court had signalled its view earlier. While hearing the batch last year, the bench suggested that the petitioners could seek to be added as parties in the Supreme Court proceedings.

The bench had also orally observed that it would be against “judicial discipline” for the Delhi High Court to hear the pleas while the matter remained pending before the Supreme Court.

When it dismissed the batch on Monday, the bench gave no substantive explanation in its oral pronouncement. “For the reasons mentioned in the judgments, both the petitions (batch) are dismissed,” the bench said. As of October 5, 2026, the detailed judgment was still awaited, and the available reports do not establish what those reasons were or whether the written judgment would address the earlier oral observation on judicial discipline.