The bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and Abhay S Oka also sought to know if any senior officer had “applied mind” to the affidavit or had only reproduced the investigation report. QUESTIONING THE Delhi Police affidavit which ruled out any hate speech at an event organised by the Hindu Yuva Vahini in the city last December, the Supreme Court on Friday gave it time till May 4 to file a “better affidavit”. The bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and Abhay S Oka also sought to know if any senior officer had “applied mind” to the affidavit or had only reproduced the investigation report. The court was hearing a plea filed by Delhi resident Qurban Ali and Senior Advocate Anjana Prakash seeking a probe into the alleged hate speeches at two separate events in Haridwar and Delhi on December 17 and 21, 2021, respectively. In an affidavit filed on April 13, the Delhi Police had said it had investigated the matter and found that “no hate was expressed in the event at Delhi against any group, community, ethnicity, religion or faith”. “Some superior officer has seen it? Who has verified it? Has there been an application of mind as to if this stand can be taken on affidavit before the court,” Justice Khanwilkar asked Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj who appeared for the Delhi Police on Friday. “This affidavit is filed by the Deputy Commissioner of Police? He accepts this position? Is this his understanding or only a reproduction of the investigating officer’s report,” he asked, adding that the court wanted “to understand… the affidavit filed before it by a DCP-rank officer”. “We hope that he (DCP) understands the nuances as also the other aspects. If he has merely reproduced the inquiry report, we can understand,” said the bench. “Are you accepting it as a correct finding? Or you need to have a relook at the whole matter? This is the reproduction of the inquiry report prepared by a sub-inspector level officer or is it your stand,” Justice Khanwilkar asked the ASG. “We will have a relook and file a fresh affidavit,” ASG Nataraj responded. Allowing this, the bench said in its order: “At the outset, Mr Kapil Sibal invited our attention to the extracts of the speech and the enquiry report of the sub-inspector (police station Okhla industrial area) dated 24.03.2022 as also the counter-affidavit filed by Deputy Commissioner of Police reiterating the same position. In the backdrop of this, the learned ASG seeks time to get instructions from authorities to file a better affidavit…. Better affidavit be filed on or before 4 May.” The next hearing has been scheduled for May 9. In the affidavit filed earlier this month, the Delhi Police said it had received three complaints alleging “open calls for genocide of Muslims” at the event. It said that after a “deep enquiry” and “evaluation of video etc”, it “did not find any substance in the video as per allegation levelled by the complainants”. “There is no use of such words which mean or could be interpreted as ‘open calls for genocide of Muslim in order to (carry out) ethnic cleansing or open call for murder of an entire community’ in the speech,” it said. “In the video clip of Delhi incident, there is no utterance against any particular section, community. Hence, after enquiry and after evaluation of the alleged video clip, it was concluded that the alleged speech did not disclose any hate words against a particular community as alleged or otherwise. Bare perusal of the complaints made, the statements which are alleged to be offensive, would divulge that no specific words against a particular community or any community were uttered by the gathering or any other person in that event,” said the affidavit. “Findings of inquiry after visual and audio examination of the evidence further disclose that speech did not contain any hate words against a particular community, and persons who gathered were there with the motive to save the ethics of their community,” the Delhi Police said. It said the “speech was about empowering one’s religion to prepare itself to face the evils which could endanger its existence, which is not even remotely connected to call for genocide of any particular religion”. “In view thereof, the complaints were closed vide enquiry report dated 13.03.2022,” it said. Objecting to the affidavit, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioners, said on Friday: “In the speech in question, they say, ‘we are ready to kill’ and the Delhi Police says it is to save the ethics of the community.” He urged the court to fix the matter for hearing and decide constitutionally what the ethics are. Sibal also said he had filed an application regarding a dharam sansad in Himachal Pradesh. The court said it would take it up on April 26.