Law Minister Kapil Mishra’s order for further investigation into his suspected involvement in the February 2020 riots was postponed till April 21 by a Delhi court on Wednesday.

When Mishra appealed the magistrate’s court decision, special judge Kaveri Baweja delayed the ruling. The complainant, Muhammad Ilyas, whose plea led the judge to lodge the FIR, was also given notice by the court, asking him to reply by the next hearing date of April 21. “I have read the contested order and taken into account the petitioner’s senior counsel’s arguments. Let the respondents get notice of the modification petition, which is due back on April 21, 2025. For the next scheduled date, the ACJM (additional chief judicial magistrate) court record will also be requested. The court said that the implementation of the contested order would be halted until the next hearing date.

According to the complaint, on February 23, 2020, during the purported riots that broke out following the passage of CAA, Mishra and his friends, along with the police, stopped the road near Kardampuri and began smashing Muslim and Dalit automobiles.

Speaking on behalf of Mishra, senior attorney P K Dubey said that by ordering a more thorough inquiry, the magisterial court’s ruling “encroached upon” the authority of a special court handling the case.

Alongside counsel Siddhesh Kotwal, Paritosh Anil, and Manya Hasija, Dubey pleaded with the court to halt the magisterial court’s ruling, claiming that Mishra was a well-known individual and that “a sword was hanging at his neck” and that “injury” was being done daily. In his appearance on behalf of Delhi Police, special public prosecutor Amit Prasad also requested that the trial court ruling be overturned, stating that “there were numerous allegations that Mishra was involved in the riots.”

After investigating, we (Mishra) concluded that he was not involved. Delhi Police said that Mishra was not involved in the rioting and had contested the allegation against him before the trial court.