The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the authorities to ensure that no hate speeches are made and no violence or damage to any properties takes place in any protest rallies being organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in the national capital and the adjoining areas of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Hearing an intervention application drawing the attention of the court to the protest rallies that are being organised by VHP in wake of Nuh violence, a bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice S V Bhatti directed the authorities to comply with the directions issued by the top court on October 21, 2022, prohibiting hate speech.

The bench said that the authorities are aware of the situation and they should take action whenever required, pointing out that the law and order is a policing matter that should be taken care of.

The court directed the state and police authorities to ensure that there should not be any hate speeches against any community or violence or damage to any property.

Directing the deployment of additional police or para-military forces to maintain law and order, the court further ordered that authorities should use the CCTV cameras or do video recordings in all sensitive areas wherever required.

The bench ordered the police to preserve the video recordings.

Issuing notice to Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh government, the bench posted the matter for further consideration on August 4.

The Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, who appeared for the central government sought time to file response to the fresh application.

Senior Advocate C.U. Singh who appeared for the applicant one Shaheen Adbulla , apprised the bench that 23 rallies are being organised.

The application has stated that it has come to his knowledge that in the aftermath of the unfortunate violence that broke out in Nuh and Gurgaon, Haryana that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) is planning to take out rallies in Delhi and Noida purportedly against the communal violence in Haryana. The rallies that are planned on August 2 are in areas include Delhi-Haryana border, Noida in Uttar Pradesh; Manesar, Haryana and 23 localities in Delhi including Karol Bagh, Patel Nagar, Lajpat Nagar, Mayur Vihar, Mukherjee Nagar, Narela, Moti Nagar, Tilak Nagar, Nangloi, Ambedkar Nagar, Najafgarh etc.

Seeking to stall the rallies, the application says that the situation in Nuh and Gurgaon continues to be “extremely tense” and even the slightest provocation could result in serious loss of life and damage to property. It has said that the rallies are likely to fan communal fires and incite people to resort to violence, ought not be permitted.

It has further said that such rallies that demonize communities and openly call for violence and killing of people are not limited in terms of their impact to just those areas that are presently reeling under the communal tensions but will inevitably lead to communal disharmony and violence of an unfathomable scale across the country.