Case against Kapil Mishra: Court pulls up Delhi Police for 'casual attitude' in following directions
New Delhi, May 27 (PTI): A Delhi court has pulled up Delhi Police for its "casual attitude" in following its directions in a case against Delhi minister Kapil Mishra for his "objectionable statements" in connection with the 2020 Delhi legislative assembly elections.
Additional chief judicial magistrate Vaibhav Chaurasiya said he was constrained to bring it to the notice of the Commissioner of Police on the state of affairs and non-adequate explanation on the part of the investigating agency.
The judge had earlier directed the DCP concerned of Delhi Police to file a detailed report over the material collected from microblogging site X in the case.
Mishra is accused of posting objectionable statements from his X handle on January 23, 2020, in connection with the then Delhi legislative assembly elections.
Based on a complaint of the returning officer, an FIR was registered against him.
In an order passed on May 26, the judge noted that on the last date of hearing, April 8, assurance was given by the DCP concerned that efforts were being made to obtain report from X.
The judge noted that no one was present on behalf of the investigating agency to follow up the directions of further investigation.
He said that "without fail, the diligent endeavour was made by this court vide order-sheets dated March 20, April 20, May 10, May 15, June 1, July 1, July 11, July 22, 2024 and March 20 and April 8, 2025 for the collection of evidence qua twitter handle of the accused, 'but in vain'."
The judge said that "before any stringent remarks could be made upon the casual attitude of the investigating agency qua the directions of this court, this court is constrained to bring it to the notice of Commissioner of Police, Delhi Police with respect to the state of affairs and non-adequate explanation on the part of the investigating agency."
The judge further noted that if the aid of any ministry was required, Delhi Police was enough equipped and "will not be shy to take resort to".
Out of the 10 dates above, the judge appended order-sheets of March 20 and April 8, 2025 and April 4, 2024 wherein the directions for the further investigation were laid down by by the court for the perusal of Commissioner of Police, Delhi Police and Joint Commissioner, Northern Range, saying "that will suffice".
"It is also impressed upon the investigating agency to at least procure the relevant material which must be the part of the charge sheet wherein the reasonable time limit had already been granted, as has been directed by this court, and in the present case, it is pending from March 20, 2024 i.e. almost an year. In the case, the Delhi Police fails to investigate or there is any impediment, same be reported to this court," the judge said.
The judge also sought the acknowledgment of receipt of today's order-sheet from the Office of Commissioner of Police, Delhi Police.
The judge posted the matter for further arguments on charge and status report from the Joint Commissioner, Northern Range on July 7.
A special court on March 7 dismissed his plea against the summons issued to him for making "objectionable statements" and violating the model code of conduct in 2020.
Special judge Jitendra Singh observed the Election Commission was under a constitutional obligation to prevent the candidates from indulging in "vitriolic vituperation with impunity, vitiating and contaminating the atmosphere for free and fair election".
The judge said he was in complete agreement with the magisterial court that the complaint filed by the returning officer was sufficient to take cognisance of the offence under Section 125 (promoting enmity between classes in connection with election) of the Representation of the People (RP) Act.
Mishra's statements, the court said, appeared to be "a brazen attempt to promote enmity on the grounds of religion by way of indirectly referring to a country which unfortunately in common parlance is often used to denote the members of a particular religion".
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MP cruise boat tragedy: Search ops expanded to trace four missing passengers
Jabalpur (PTI): Army divers and disaster response teams on Saturday expanded their search at Bargi Dam in Madhya Pradesh to locate a man and three children still missing after the cruise boat tragedy that claimed nine lives two days ago, officials said.
With 28 of the 41 identified passengers onboard the ill-fated cruise boat rescued safely, police are preparing to register an FIR in connection with the accident that occurred at the reservoir in Jabalpur district on Thursday evening, they said.
The search radius has been expanded to 5 km in the backwaters of the Bargi Dam, located downstream of the Narmada River, area sub-divisional officer of police (SDOP) Anjul Ayank Mishra told PTI.
Nine people drowned in the incident, while 28 were rescued, and efforts are ongoing to trace the missing persons, he said.
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According to the police, more than 200 rescuers, including around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, began the search operation at 5 am on Saturday to trace Kamraj, an employee of the Ordnance Factory in Khamaria, his son Tamil (5), Vijay Soni (6) and Mayuram (5).
Mishra said that an inquest case has been registered and the post-mortem of nine deceased persons has been completed.
"Our priority is to search for the missing persons. We will soon register an FIR," he said.
Investigators have said that CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the ill-fated boat, and the names of 41 persons, who boarded the vessel, have been ascertained so far.
Collector Raghvendra Singh confirmed that a search is underway for four missing persons.
The rescue operation, being carried out by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and local divers, was briefly affected around 9 am due to strong winds.
The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the incident and dismissed three crew members after survivors alleged negligence and safety lapses, including failure to provide life jackets.
The government also banned the operation of similar vessels in the state.
The boat, operated by the state tourism department, sank during a sudden storm around 6 pm on Thursday, and the wreckage was retrieved from the dam water on Friday, after the rescuers confirmed that there were no more bodies inside.
Eyewitnesses have said that strong winds made the water choppy, prompting passengers to raise an alarm and ask the crew to steer the vessel towards the riverbank.
A survivor alleged negligence by the crew and described a last-minute scramble for life jackets.
