The Delhi Police has urged the Delhi High Court to transfer a case concerning 2020 Delhi riots from the judge who had restrained the trial court from passing final order on charges.
While hearing a case filed by the Delhi riots conspiracy case accused Devangana Kalita, Justice Neena Bansal Krishna had, on September 12, 2024, passed an order stating that the trial court "may continue with the arguments on charge, but no final order shall be made".
Justice Krishna later reserved the verdict in the case on January 8, 2026 though the final order is yet to be passed.
Counsel appearing for the Delhi Police mentioned the matter before a Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia.
The counsel said that the judge had passed the stay order in September 2024 and reserved judgment in the case in January, yet the final judgment has not been delivered.
He told the Bench that, as per the Supreme Court's directions, the judgment must be passed within three months of it being reserved, and that the apex court allows parties to move applications for transfer of the case if the judgment is not pronounced within the stipulated time.
Police stated that they are seeking permission to file an application to transfer the case to another judge. The counsel added that a co-accused in the case has come to the Court now seeking bail on the ground that since the High Court has stayed the proceedings, the trial will take time.
Chief Justice Upadhyaya asked the counsel to provide the case details, adding that he will look into the issue on the administrative side.
"Let me enquire what all can be done by me on the administrative side," he said.
Kalita moved the High Court seeking video recordings of the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) relied upon by the prosecution in the Delhi riots case. She also sought WhatsApp chats of police groups.
The Karkardooma Court had started hearing arguments on charge in the conspiracy case on September 5, 2024.
The accused in the case are Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Safoora Zargar, Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita, Asif Iqbal Tanha, Tahir Hussain, Khalid Saifi, Isharat Jahan, Meeran Haider, Gulfisha Fatima, Shifa-Ur-Rehman, Shadab Ahmed, Tasleem Ahmed, Saleem Malik, Mohd Saleem Khan, Athar Khan and Faizan Khan.
The Delhi Police has invoked stringent provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against the accused.