Delhi High Court orders CBI probe into death of Muslim man beaten, forced to sing national anthem by Police

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate the death of a 23-year-old man named who was beaten with lathis by Delhi Police during the Delhi riots of 2020..A video clip had gone viral on social media showing policeman beating deceased Faizan with sticks and forcing him to sing the national anthem..Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani passed the order today transferring the probe into the matter from Delhi Police to CBI.The Court observed that the incident falls in the category of a hate crime and yet the police probe has been "tardy and sketchy" and spared people (police officials) suspected of assaulting Faizan."What is worse is that the suspects (police officials) were entrusted to act as custodians of the law, and were in a position of power and authority, but seemed to have been driven by bigoted mindsets," Justice Bhambhani said. The Court concluded the Delhi Police probe does not inspire confidence and its actions in the case so far is "too-little, too-late".""In the present case, apart from the fact that the custodians of the law are themselves accused of having committed its breach, the perpetrators of the offence are themselves members of the agency that is investigating them. This situation does not inspire confidence. To add to this are the various anomalies and aberrations noticed in the investigation carried-out by Delhi Police so far, some of which have been highlighted above. In the opinion of this court, transfer of investigation is necessitated in the present case, to guard the credibility of the investigation and to instil confidence in the victims as to the fairness of the process, if for no other reason.".The Court, therefore, ordered the transfer of the probe and said CBI can add to the FIR any other offence as may be found to be made-out in the case..The Court passed the order on the plea filed by Faizan's mother Kismatun.In her plea, Kismatun alleged that Faizan was brutally assaulted by policemen at Kardampuri and then taken into illegal detention at the Jyoti Nagar Police Station, where he was denied any medical attention, ultimately leading to his death.She sought constitution of a SIT and a court-monitored probe into the incident and the role of the police officials.Advocate Vrinda Grover appeared for Kismatun and argued that the Delhi Police's probe in Faizan's death has only proceeded in one direction and has done nothing to investigate the role of the Station House Officer (SHO) at Jyoti Nagar, where Faizan was assaulted.She said that the SHO and officers at the Kiri Nagar Police station are fudging and forging the records, and yet, those policeman are outside the scope of the investigation.She further said that the investigation in the case could go on forever and until and unless a court-monitored probe is conducted, it will never come to an end..Meanwhile, the Delhi Police told the High Court that it is probing the incident but the investigation was taking time because certain videos and evidence have to be examined forensically.The Court was told that it was difficult to identify all the policeman in the viral video because their faces were not clearly visible in the video.On Delhi Police's request, some of hearings in the case were held in-chamber as well..Advocates Vrinda Grover, Soutik Banerjee and Devika Tulsiani represented Faizan's mother Kismatun.Delhi Police was represented through Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad as well as advocates Ayodhya Prasad, Ruchika Prasad, Kavya Agarwal and Chanya Jaitly..[Read Judgement]