An FIR has been filed in Varanasi against Samajwadi leader I. P Singh for addressing Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath with his older name Ajay Singh Bisht, on Twitter.
The police have filed a case under section 67 (Punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the Information Technology Act. the FIR was registered on Monday in Varanasi’s Shivpur police station.
According to a report by The Indian Express, the Circle Officer, Cantonment, Mohammad Mushtaque said “The FIR was lodged after we received a complaint regarding calling the Chief Minister by his old name. We are investigating the matter and will only be able to comment on the issue after a probe.”
The complainant says in the report that I. P Singh called the respected CM yogi Adityanath Ajay Bisht on Twitter in order to make fun of Sanatan Dharm, saints and saint culture. The report further reads, “This way he has hurt mine and crores of others’ belief and religious culture. He (Adityanath) is the peetadheeshwar of Goraksha peeth, which is the centre of faith and respect for the complainant and crores of Hindus. ”
The complaint has been filed by Kamlesh Chandra Tripathi, a lawyer at the Varanasi Civil court. When contacted by The Indian Express, the Samajwadi leader said that he came to know about the FIR only through media reports and was not informed by the police.
I.P Singh recently left the BJP after 30 years in 2019 and joined the Samajwadi Party. He tweeted on Wednesday saying that he will approach the High Court and challenge the FIR.
