The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Delhi Police on a plea by CPI(M) leaders Brinda Karat and K.M. Tiwari against the trial court’s refusal to lodge FIRs against Union Minister Anurag Thakur and BJP leader Pravesh Verma for their alleged hate speeches on anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests at Shaheen Bagh in 2020.
A Bench of Justices K.M. Joseph and B.V. Nagarathna listed the case for hearing after three weeks.
The court prima facie remarked orally in the hearing that the lower courts’ conclusion that sanction under Section 196 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) was required before taking cognisance may be wrong.
Referring to a snippet ‘desh ke gaddaro ko goli maaro...’ [shoot the traitors] from one of the alleged speeches, the Bench said the remark “goli maaro” was “certainly not said in terms of a medical prescription”.
The Delhi High Court had in June last year refused to set aside the trial court’s refusal to direct the registration of an FIR against Mr. Thakur and Mr. Verma for their alleged hate speeches.
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The High Court had refused to interfere with the trial court’s order and said under the law, the requisite sanction is required to be obtained from the competent authority for the registration of FIR in the present facts.
It had noted that the Delhi Police had conducted a preliminary inquiry in the matter and informed the trial court that prima facie no cognisable offence was made out and that for ordering any investigation, the trial court was required to take cognisance of the facts and evidence before it, which was not permissible without a valid sanction.
It was the petitioners’ grievance that Mr. Thakur, at a rally on January 27, 2020, allegedly egged on the crowd to raise an incendiary slogan after lashing out at anti-CAA protesters.
The Delhi Police had defended the trial court order,
In the complaint, Ms. Karat and Mr. Tiwari had sought lodging of FIRs under various 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.
