Delhi High Court Transfers Viral Assault Case to CBI for Investigation

The Delhi High Court has transferred the case of Faizan, a 23-year-old man seen in a viral video being assaulted and forced to sing the national anthem during the 2020 communal riots, to the CBI. Faizan's mother had filed a petition alleging police misconduct and seeking a CBI probe.

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take over the case involving the death of 23-year-old Faizan, who was captured in a viral video being beaten and forced to sing the national anthem during the 2020 communal riots in Delhi.

The video, widely circulated on social media, showed Faizan and four other Muslim men being brutally assaulted by police officers, who also coerced them into singing patriotic songs like 'Vande Mataram.'

Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani granted the transfer following a petition from Faizan's mother, Kismatun, who accused the police of assaulting and unlawfully detaining her son, denying him critical medical treatment. This alleged negligence led to Faizan's death on February 26, 2020, two days after being released.

The communal violence erupted on February 24, 2020, in northeast Delhi, killing at least 53 people and injuring around 700. In a sealed status report filed in 2022, Delhi Police indicated that the identification of the officers involved was ongoing. In March, they informed the court that forensic analysis of certain video evidence was still pending from the National Forensic Sciences University in Gujarat.

(With inputs from agencies.)