A Delhi court on Friday dismissed a petition seeking registration of first information report (FIR) against Delhi law minister Kapil Mishra in connection with the Delhi riots of 2020.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Ashwani Panwar of the Rouse Avenue Court rejected the plea by Yamuna Vihar resident Mohammad Ilyas under Section 156(3) CrPC (175(3) of BNSS), which empowers the magistrate to order registration of FIR in cognisable offences

A detailed order is awaited.

Ilyas sought registration of a first information report (FIR) against Mishra on allegations that he took part in the riots. He claimed that he saw Mishra and others blocking a road in Northeast Delhi's Kardampuri and destroying vendors’ carts during the riots. He also said the then Delhi Police DCP was standing next to Mishra.

Notably, a Magistrate court had earlier directed Delhi Police to investigate Mishra's alleged role in the riots. However, that directive was set aside by the Sessions Court.

The earlier magistrate, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Vaibhav Chaurasiya, had raised serious questions over the Delhi Police investigation into the alleged conspiracy behind the Delhi riots. He said that many questionable assumptions, guesswork and interpretations had gone into building the police’s theory that the riots were a pre-planned conspiracy by anti-Citizenship Amendment (CAA) protestors. 

However, the Sessions Court ruled that the Magistrate court could not have ordered a further investigation into the case, since the Delhi Police had already registered an FIR regarding a larger conspiracy behind the riots, and the Karkardooma Court had taken cognisance of it.

Subsequently, the matter came up before judge Panwar after judge Chaurasiya's transfer.

Judge Panwar today dismissed the plea.

Advocates Mehmood Pracha and Sikander Raza represented complainant Mohd Ilyas. 

Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Amit Prasad with advocate Fagun Sharma appeared for the Delhi Police.