The Delhi High Court has scheduled a hearing for 23 January 2026 to address a series of petitions seeking a Special Investigation Team (SIT) or independent probe into the 2020 North East Delhi riots and the 2019 violence at Jamia Millia Islamia University.
The matter, previously listed before a coordinate bench, will now be heard by a division bench headed by Justice Vivek Chaudhary, subject to the Chief Justice’s orders. The petitions, filed since 2020, request investigations into alleged hate speeches by political leaders and actions by police officials.
According to Live Law, the court noted that the matter was “part heard” before another bench and cited an earlier order from 11 December 2025, which directed the case to be listed for further arguments. The current bench stated, “We are listing it (before same bench) for propriety reasons,” and confirmed the next hearing date for further proceedings.
The batch of petitions includes demands for an independent SIT investigation into the 2020 riots, registration of FIRs against politicians for alleged hate speeches, and disciplinary action against police personnel. Coverage revealed that petitioners have named leaders from multiple parties, including Kapil Mishra, Anurag Thakur, Parvesh Verma, Abhay Verma, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Manish Sisodia, Amanatullah Khan, Akbaruddin Owaisi, Warris Pathan, Mehmood Pracha, Harsh Mander, Mufti Mohammad Ismail, Swara Bhasker, Umar Khalid, and others.
One petition, filed by Brinda Karat, specifically seeks an independent investigation into complaints of alleged offences and atrocities by police, Rapid Action Force, or state functionaries during the riots. Following reports, another petition by Ajay Gautam requests a National Investigation Agency probe into the funding and sponsorship of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, as well as FIRs against additional political leaders for alleged inflammatory speeches.
“The order says list for further arguments. We are listing it (before same bench) for propriety reasons,” the court stated regarding the scheduling of the hearing.
In December 2021, the Supreme Court had directed the Delhi High Court to decide expeditiously, preferably within three months, on one of the petitions seeking FIRs and investigations against politicians. Analysis showed that the Supreme Court’s direction was issued due to the prolonged pendency of these matters before the High Court.
The 2019 Jamia violence petitions were filed by students who allege they were attacked by Delhi Police during the incident. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had previously reported that the protest constituted an “unlawful assembly” and warranted police action. As details emerged, the Delhi Police stated that CCTV footage from the university and surrounding areas was collected and preserved in a timely manner.
Earlier, the police opposed the transfer of investigation in the Jamia violence FIRs to an independent agency, arguing that such a move would expand the scope of the plea and introduce a new cause of action. Reporting indicated that the Supreme Court, on 19 October 2023, had requested the High Court to expedite the hearing, considering the extended duration these cases have remained pending.
Note: This article is produced using AI-assisted tools and is based on publicly available information. It has been reviewed by The Quint's editorial team before publishing.