The Delhi High Court has refused to withdraw its earlier order regarding compensation to the victims of the communal riots in North-East Delhi in February 2020. The court on Monday (July 6) rejected the appeal of the Delhi government demanding withdrawal of the January 2025 order. In this order, the court had directed the government to give compensation of Rs 21 crore to the riot victims.
This compensation was decided on the recommendation of North-East Delhi Rights Claims Commission NEDRCC. This commission was constituted by the then Aam Aadmi Party government in April 2020. The Commission had recommended compensation to provide relief to the people who suffered loss of life and property in the riots.
Reference to Supreme Court decision
The government has opposed this direction of the High Court and for this it has cited a decision of the Supreme Court, in which it has been said that the responsibility to compensate for the loss of life and property lies with the rioters and organizers of violence, and not with the government. However, the government told the High Court that it has not yet made any arrangements to recover money from the accused or criminals of violence.
what is the matter
In February 2020, 53 people were killed and more than 700 people were injured in the communal riots in North-East Delhi. A large number of houses, shops and other properties were damaged. These riots started from 23 February 2020.
After the riots, the AAP government formed the North East Delhi Rights Claims Commission (NEDRCC) in April 2020. The same commission had recommended a compensation of Rs 21 crore to the victims. On January 15, 2025, the single bench of the High Court had ordered the Delhi government to immediately give this compensation on the demand of the victims. The AAP government was in power at that time and it did not oppose this demand.
Government’s argument
The new BJP government that came to power in February 2025 opposed this order. The government took note of the Supreme Court’s 16 April 2009 decision ‘Re: Destruction of Public & Private Properties vs. Cited ‘State of AP’. Delhi government’s standing counsel Sameer Vashishtha told the bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyay and Justice Tejas Karia that the Supreme Court’s decision says that the loss will be compensated by those who have caused the loss, and not by the government. The government says that the no objection given in January was given by mistake and without permission. On this basis, in September 2025, the government filed an application before Singal to withdraw the order.
‘Where should the victims go…’
The bench raised questions on the government’s argument. The court said, ‘According to the earlier decisions of the Supreme Court, you will have to recover the amount from the people responsible. Have you recovered that amount? Will the victims go to those people and ask for money? You have to create a mechanism to recover losses from such people. Is that system in place?’ On this, the lawyer said that the cases of the accused are still going on, when the court asked whether the recovery mechanism has been made or not, he replied, not yet.
Single bench had rejected the petition of 2025
In September 2025, the Delhi government filed an application before the single bench seeking withdrawal of the court’s January 15, 2025 order. The bench had also rejected the recall application of the government on 7 May 2025. The court had said that the government’s argument of unintentional mistake does not inspire confidence. The court also said that there has been a delay in filing the recall petition which shows its lack of merit.
On May 29, the government appealed against the May 7 order and requested to withdraw the January 15, 2025 order. The bench also maintained the same stand on Monday and rejected the government’s petition, paving the way for compensation to the riot victims.
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