Judge who criticised Delhi riots investigation transferred

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Vinod Yadav who was trial judge in the cases involving the Delhi riots violence last year has been transferred to New Delhi district's Rouse Avenue Court as Special Judge (PC Act) (CBI). Judge Yadav had been critical of the probe into the violence which shook the capital last year, terming it "callous and farcical".

Yadav had been hearing several riots cases at the Karkardooma District Courts, where he had come down heavily on policemen who were allegedly lying under oath. In one of the cases he oversaw, s policeman identified three alleged rioters but another could not. Terming the incidents as a "sorry state of affairs" the judge had also remarked that without a proper investigation, the very sentinels of democracy would be tormented.

In the last few months, he has repeatedly sought the intervention of Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana to monitor the probe and take action against the erring police officers. Yadav had also previously imposed a fine on the Delhi police which was later challenged in the high court.

The communal violence that erupted in northeast Delhi last year was one of the worst since Partition, Yadav also noted. Protests in February 2020 had erupted into clashes between supporters of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and their opponents which left at least 53 dead and over 700 injured.

The Delhi High Court had designated two sessions and two magisterial courts for the trial of communal violence cases registered in northeast and Shahdara districts of the national capital. Shortly before his transfer Judge Yadav had ordered a separation of trial based on religion due to "wrongly-clubbed FIRs".

Judge Virender Bhatt will now be holding the post of ASJ in Karkardoona court according to the public notice issued by the Delhi High Court listing.