HC disposes of petition against Robert Vadra over Pahalgam attack remarks
The court also observed that the petitioners could approach the appropriate forum to initiate civil or criminal proceedings
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Friday disposed of a petition seeking legal action against Robert Vadra, husband of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, over his remarks related to the recent terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam. However, the court also observed that the petitioners could approach the appropriate forum to initiate civil or criminal proceedings in the matter, if they so choose.
This order was passed by a division bench comprising Justices Rajan Roy and Om Prakash Shukla on a petition filed by the Hindu Front for Justice and others.
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The petition had urged the court to direct the Centre to constitute a special investigation team (SIT) to probe Vadra’s comments. It also sought legal proceedings against him under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
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The petitioner’s counsel, advocate Ranjana Agnihotri, alleged that Vadra’s remarks in the aftermath of the attack on April 22 sparked a controversy. She claimed that Vadra, while reacting to the incident, had said that non-Muslims were targeted because terrorists believed that Muslims were being “mistreated” in the country.
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On April 22, terrorists opened fire in Pahalgam, a popular tourist destination, resulting in the death of 26 people.
At the time of the hearing, the chief standing counsel (CSC), Shailendra Kumar Singh, for the state government and the counsel for the central government were present.
Agnihotri said the court had disposed of the plea with the liberty to approach the appropriate forum to initiate proceedings, civil or criminal in nature, if they chose to do so. Agnihotri further said she would file a criminal complaint in the matter after getting a certified copy of the order.
