The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Delhi Police regarding a petition filed by CPI(M) leaders Brinda Karat and K.M. Tiwari. The petition challenges the trial court's decision not to register FIRs against Union Minister Anurag Thakur and BJP leader Pravesh Verma for their purported hate speeches during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests at Shaheen Bagh in 2020.
The case has been scheduled after a span of three weeks for a hearing by a Bench comprising Justices K.M. Joseph and B.V. Nagarathna.
๐๐ผ๐น๐ถ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ผ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป: ๐ฆ๐
During the hearing, the court made an initial observation indicating that the lower court may have been incorrect in its conclusion that sanction under Section 196 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) was necessary before taking cognisance. The observation was made orally.
The Bench stated that the phrase "desh ke gaddaro ko goli maaro" (shoot the traitors) from one of the purported speeches was โcertainly not said in terms of a medical prescriptionโ.
๐๐ฒ๐น๐ต๐ถ ๐๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ณ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
In June of last year, the Delhi High Court declined to overturn the trial court's decision to not order the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against Thakur and Verma for their alleged hate speeches.
The High Court declined to interfere with the trial court's decision and stated that according to the law, the competent authority must grant the required sanction for the registration of FIR in the present circumstances. The High Court observed that the Delhi Police had conducted a preliminary inquiry and informed the trial court that there was no apparent cognizable offense. The trial court required a valid sanction to take cognizance of the facts and evidence before initiating an investigation, which was not permissible without one.
๐ฃ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ธ ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ ๐ง๐ต๐ฎ๐ธ๐๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐น๐ผ๐ด๐ฎ๐ป๐
The petitioners had claimed that Thakur had encouraged the crowd to chant an incendiary slogan during a rally on January 27, 2020, after denouncing anti-CAA protesters. The Delhi Police had defended the trial court's ruling.
Karat and Tiwari lodged a complaint requesting the filing of FIRs under several sections, including 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc.), 153-B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code.
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