The Supreme Court on Monday sought the Uttar Pradesh government’s response on a petition challenging the dropping of the 2007 Gorakhpur riots case against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
A Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud issued notice and sought a reply from the State government in four weeks.
“Issue notice. Let a copy of the petition be served on the caveator. Counter affidavit be filed within four weeks hence. Rejoinder, if any, be filed within two weeks therefrom. List after six weeks,” the Bench said.
On January 27, 2007, an FIR was lodged at Kotwali police station in Gorakhpur against Mr. Adityanath, then a Member of Parliament, and several others on charges of promoting enmity between two groups. It was alleged that several incidents of violence were reported in Gorakhpur on that day after an alleged hate speech by Mr. Adityanath.
On February 1, the Allahabad High Court had upheld the quashing of a magistrate’s order that had taken cognisance of a chargesheet against Mr. Adityanath in connection with the riot case. The HC had dismissed the petition against the Sessions Court verdict filed by Parvez Parwaz, at whose instance the FIR was registered against Mr. Adityanath and others.
Parwaz had challenged the sessions court’s January 28, 2017 decision quashing the Magistrate’s order on the grounds that he was not heard by the court. He had argued before the High Court that being the informant in the case, he was a necessary party, but the sessions judge had set aside the order without impleading him.
The CID had completed its probe in 2015 and sought sanction for prosecution that year. The then Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party government in the State had not granted sanction to prosecute Mr. Adityanath.
