A Delhi court has strongly criticized the Delhi Police for conducting an inadequate investigation into a case against BJP leader Kapil Mishra, linked to his controversial tweets from 2020. The tweets, which sparked public outrage, claimed that the AAP and Congress had created a “mini Pakistan” at Shaheen Bagh and portrayed the Delhi Assembly elections as a contest between “India and Pakistan.”
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ACJM Vaibhav Chaurasia of Rouse Avenue Courts observed that since March last year, the Court had been pushing the police to gather evidence related to Mishra’s Twitter handle. Despite these efforts, no substantial progress was made. The judge remarked, “A diligent endeavor was made by the Court since March last year for collection of evidence qua Mishra's twitter handle, but in vain.”
A report from the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) dated April 8, 2025, claimed that efforts were underway to obtain the necessary information from Twitter, now known as X Corp. However, during the latest hearing, no representative from the Investigating Agency was present to report on further actions, prompting the court to comment on their lack of seriousness.
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The court stated:
“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 Worthy Commissioner of Police, Delhi Police with respect to the state of affairs and non-adequate explanation on the part of the Investigating Agency.”
Further, the court emphasized that if assistance from any other Ministry is required to continue the investigation, the Delhi Police is fully capable and should not hesitate to seek such help.
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The judge added:
“Out of the ten dates afore-mentioned, this Court is appending only order-sheets of 20.03.2025 and 08.04.2025 and the order-sheet dated 04.03.2024, wherein the directions for the further investigation were laid down by my Ld. Predecessor, for the kind perusal of Worthy Commissioner of Police, Delhi Police and Worthy Joint Commissioner, Northern Range, for that will suffice.”
The judge also warned that if the Delhi Police faces any obstacles in completing the investigation, they must promptly inform the Court. The next hearing in this matter is scheduled for July 7.
Earlier in March, the Delhi High Court had refused to stay the trial court proceedings against Mishra. Mishra had challenged a lower court order summoning him in the case, but the High Court allowed the trial to proceed.
During the hearing, the special judge who dismissed Mishra’s revision plea stated that the word “Pakistan” was skillfully used by Mishra to spread hatred and create communal tension during the election campaign, solely for garnering votes.
The FIR against Kapil Mishra was filed after a complaint was lodged by the Returning Officer’s office. It alleged that Mishra’s tweets violated the Model Code of Conduct and the Representation of the People Act. Specifically, it was claimed that Mishra’s statements were intended to incite hatred between different communities during the 2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly elections.
In June of the previous year, a magisterial court had passed the order summoning Mishra, which was later upheld by the special judge. Mishra’s defense argued that his comments did not target any caste, community, religion, race, or language, and merely referred to a country, which, according to him, was not prohibited under Section 125 of the RP Act. However, the trial court dismissed this defense.
The trial court highlighted that Mishra’s comments were a blatant attempt to promote religious enmity by indirectly referring to a country which, in “common parlance,” is often used as a code for members of a particular religion.
