NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday, December 6, 2021, pulled up Delhi Police for its conduct in the Tablighi Jamaat incident, observing that almost no investigation has been done in the matter. A bench of Justice Mukta Gupta was hearing a bunch of petitions seeking quashing of cases against Indian nationals who allegedly housed Jamaat attendees in March 2020 during the first Covid wave. “You officers don’t deserve to be investigating officers… The problem is no investigation has been done in the matter,” the court said.
The counsel for the state tried to submit that the inquiry was made in this regard in the locality but exact information could not be gathered. The police informed the court that the FIR registered said the attendees came sometime in March but there was no exact date noted as to when they came and stayed in the homes of the accused.
The police also informed that two separate FIRs had been filed. There is one FIR at the Chandni Mahal
Police Station and Delhi Police Crime Branch has a separate FIR, plus two distinct chargesheets have also been filed. Slamming the police for not bringing status reports on record, the bench noted that while the second status report was not on record in any of the matters, even the first report was not made available in several cases.
The court directed the police to file status reports in each case and asked the DCP Central District to file an affidavit indicating whether the petitioners are accused in the Crime Branch FIR. The court also ordered the DCP to inform whether there was any prohibition on Indian nationals housing a foreign national who visited India on a valid visa and passport.