The notice has been issued on a plea for the registration of FIR against Union Minister Anurag Thakur and BJP MP Parvesh Singh Verma.
Union Minister Anurag Thakur
The Supreme Court has issued notice to Delhi government on a plea by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Brinda Karat, seeking registration of FIRs against Union Minister Anurag Thakur and BJP MP Parvesh Singh Verma for their alleged hate speech in the backdrop of the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and Delhi riots that followed in the year 2020.
While issuing notice, a bench of Justice KM Joseph and Justice BV Nagarathna on Monday observed that the reasoning of courts below that sanction under Section 196 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) was required may not be correct.
“Goli Maro Desh Ke Gaddaro’ was not in terms of medicine prescription, certainly as gaddar means traitor I believe, Justice Joseph remarked while interpreting Thakur’s remark.
Advertisement
Brinda Karat has approached the top court along with KM Tiwari against a June 2022 Delhi High Court order which had rejected their plea. Both Karat and Tiwari had moved the High Court challenging a trial court decision that had refused to order registration of FIRs against the two BJP leaders.
The speeches by the two leaders were made during the Delhi assembly elections in 2020, when the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests were ongoing in the national capital.
The High Court in its ruling had expressed concern at the petitioners bypassing remedies under the CrPC in this case, terming it a trend and a ‘worrying phenomenon that has gained traction and is in vogue these days.’
Further, the police’s status report had found that no cognisable offence had been made out.
Advertisement
