The Delhi High Court has dismissed pleas seeking an independent Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots and the violence during protests at Jamia Millia Islamia in 2019. The ruling brings a long-running set of petitions seeking separate investigations and action against alleged perpetrators to a close.
A division bench of Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Manoj Jain rejected the petitions, including pleas concerning alleged police excesses during the 2019 Jamia protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens, as well as the violence that erupted in Northeast Delhi in February 2020. The petitions had sought independent investigation into the incidents and related allegations.
The 2020 riots followed clashes between supporters and opponents of the citizenship law protests and left at least 53 people dead and hundreds injured. Delhi Police registered hundreds of cases following the violence, with several investigations and trials continuing over the years. In 2024, the High Court had noted that hundreds of cases remained pending and sought updated information on their status.
The Jamia violence dates to December 2019, when protests against the citizenship law escalated into clashes involving students, demonstrators and police. Petitions before the High Court raised allegations concerning the handling of those events and sought investigations independent of the existing process.
The latest order means court has declined to direct a separate SIT inquiry into the two episodes. Existing criminal proceedings and investigations, where pending, will continue according to law. The ruling settles only these pleas.
