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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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
