Delhi HC refuses to lend urgent hearing to plea seeking judicial inquiry into Jamia protests

The Delhi High Court on Monday did not accede to a request to grant an urgent hearing to a petition seeking judicial inquiry into protests against the newly-enacted Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, which erupted in the national capital and medical assistance to students who sustained injuries during the violence on Sunday.

The matter was mentioned before a division bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and C Hari Shankar in the backdrop of violent protests which erupted in Delhi's Jamia Millia Islamia University yesterday over the newly enacted law.

The court, while refusing to grant an urgent hearing into the matter, directed the petitioner Rizwan Nazmi to approach it through the registry.

"Allow the petition and pass an order to set up a judicial inquiry" the plea, filed through advocates Tariq Khan and Apoorv Singhal, submitted.

It further sought a direction to "compensate" the injured students of Jamia Millia Islamia for the injuries and provide for their medical treatment at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

The petitioner submitted that the police personnel broke into the campus and used tear-gas and lathi-charge at the protesters while they were observing a peaceful protest inside the campus.

"The officials also switched off the lights of the reading hall, locked the doors from outside and threw tear-gas bombs inside," the plea alleged.