New Delhi, April 1 The Supreme Court on Wednesday requested the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court to take a comprehensive policy decision to ensure a productive timeline for adjudicating sensitive cases, such as those involving racial discrimination against people from the north-east.
While hearing a plea seeking a time-bound trial in cases of racial discrimination against people from the north-east, a bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant observed that such matters require prioritization and out-of-turn adjudication.
The petitioner's counsel told the bench, also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, about a 2014 case in Delhi in which 19-year-old Nido Tania, a student from Arunachal Pradesh, was beaten to death.
The counsel said that even in cases where investigations were complete and chargesheets were filed, the trial takes a long time.
While disposing of the plea, the bench requested the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court to "consider these issues from an administrative perspective and take a comprehensive policy decision that may ensure a productive timeline for adjudicating such sensitive trials on an out-of-turn basis".
While hearing a separate plea on February 18, the top court said that identifying persons on grounds of race, region, sex, and caste would amount to treading a regressive path.
It refused to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking to prevent discrimination and violence against citizens from the north-east and other regions.
The bench had then asked Attorney General R Venkataramani to consider and refer the PIL to an appropriate authority.
The PIL was filed in the backdrop of the brutal killing of Anjel Chakma, a 24-year-old MBA student from Tripura. Chakma died on December 26, 2025, due to grievous injuries sustained in an alleged racially motivated attack in the Selaqui area of Dehradun.
Chakma had gone to Dehradun after completing his graduation in Holy Cross School, Agartala, to pursue an MBA. He was stabbed to death in the presence of his younger brother, Michael.