New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday issued notices on two petitions, one of which sought registration of an FIR against Congress President Sonia Gandhi, her children Rahul and Priyanka, and others for allegedly giving hate speeches.
The Bench of Chief Justice Dhirubhai N Patel and C Hari Shankar admitted both the petitions for hearing, fixing the next hearing on April 30.
The petition for lodging of FIR has been filed by Lawyers Voice while another petition is a PIL by Advocate Ajay Gautam.
Both have alleged that the violence in Delhi was ignited by the provocative speeches of the Congress and other leaders against the Citizenship Amendment Act passed by Parliament last December.
This is a clear attempt by BJP-backed petitioners to push the Congress leaders and others backing the anti-CAA protests on the back foot. Also, it is a tit for tat action for BJP's leaders being put in the dock for making inflammatory speeches and instigating the violence.
At least two Union Ministers -- Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prakash Javadekar -- have already lashed out at Sonia Gandhi for her hand in provok-ing people to resort to violence by spreading falsehoods about the CAA.
Gautam's petition also seeks to unravel the source of funding behind the anti-CAA protests while raising concern over the closure of various roads in the northeast area of Delhi.
He has sought a probe by the National Investigation Agency to unravel the "anti-national" forces behind the protests.
He has also raised the question whether a particular community or section of society can be allowed to flagrantly violate and infringe upon fundamental rights of the general public by resorting to hooliganism and chaos, blocking public roads and metro stations.
He has further alleged that vested interests and "anti-Hindu forces" were involved in carrying on the protests."It is not a normal protest...anti-national and anti-Hindu forces are behind these protests and some vested interests/parties/countries are funding these protesters," Gautam's petition said, asserting that the protesters have shouted pro-Pak slogans and are protesting despite knowing that the CAA has nothing to do with Muslims living in India.
It has pointed out that persons "accused of sedition charges in different cases and the known votaries of anti-Hindu/anti-Ram Mandir sentiment have joined the protest.’’
Those in the dock for provoking the protesters include senior Congress leaders Salman Khurshid, Shashi Tharoor, Mani Shankar Iyer, Digvijaya Singh, as also former JNU students’ union president Kanhaiya Kumar, Chandra Shekhar Anurag Kashyap, Lawyer Teesta Seetalwad and Swara Bhaskar.
