A city court on Tuesday ordered an FIR to probe Delhi law minister Kapil Mishra's alleged role in the 2020 riots in the national capital that killed 53 people.

"It is clear that Mishra was in the area at the time of the alleged offence," the court said, observing that a further probe was required to investigate the role of Mishra in the case.

Additional chief judicial magistrate Vaibhav Chaurasia's order noted that a prima facie cognisable offence is disclosed by the petitioner against Mishra.

A plea was filed by Yamuna Vihar resident Mohammad Ilyas demanding an FIR against Mishra and others concerning the violence that broke out in northeast Delhi in 2020.

The Delhi police had opposed the plea, saying that a conspiracy was hatched to implicate Mishra in the riots case. The police had also maintained that Mishra had not played any role in orchestrating the violence and a false narrative was being created to drag his name into it.

The court, however, did not agree with the police version and said: "Bereft of lens and theory of the prosecution qua riots, the personal message that was placed by the prosecution leading the version that the name of the proposed accused was deliberately conspired to be dragged is unfounded." It posted the matter for compliance on April 16.

Appearing for Ilyas, advocate Mehmood Pracha claimed that the complainant had seen Mishra and others blocking a road in northeast Delhi's Kardampuri and breaking a vendor's cart on February 23, 2020.

He alleged that the then deputy commissioner of police, northeast Delhi, was standing next to Mishra and the accused were allegedly warning the vendors to vacate the place or face consequences.

After the order was passed, the Congress and the AAP demanded Mishra's resignation for a fair probe into the matter.