Delhi High Court, which was ordered by the Supreme Court to hear on Friday petitions related to the Delhi riots, has listed for March 12 appeals for filing of FIRs against BJP leaders Anurag Thakur, Parvesh Verma and Kapil Mishra for their hate speeches that are being blamed for instigating the violence.

It will also hear at the same time a petition accusing Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra of making hate speeches.

The high court had on February 27 listed all such matters for hearing on April 13, but the Supreme Court on March 4 observed that such a long date “was not necessary and was not justified”.

The apex court asked the high court to hear matters related to the riots on March 6 and dispose of them “as expeditiously as possible”.

A bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice C. Hari Shankar on Friday took up the petitions and asked the Centre and Delhi police to file their replies by March 12 on the appeal for FIRs against the BJP leaders.A bench of Justices S. Muralidhar and Talwant Singh on February 26 had expressed anguish over the police failure to register an FIR against Thakur, Verma and Mishra and asked the police commissioner to take a “conscious decision” on it by the next day. But Justice Muralidhar’s transfer was notified the same night.

The next day the bench of Chief Justice Patel and Justice Shankar gave the Centre and police four weeks to file their replies and listed the matter for hearing on April 13.

Among the petitions taken up is one by CPM leader Brinda Karat asking for directions to make public the list of those arrested for the violence.

During the hearing, senior advocate A.S. Chandhiok told the court that drains in northeast Delhi were full of bodies and urged the court to pass directions to clear them.