SC raises doubts over rejection of plea for cases against Thakur, Verma
The Supreme Court issued notices to the police and the Delhi government on Monday and posted the matter for hearing next after three weeks
The Supreme Court has raised doubts over an August 2020 Delhi court order rejecting a plea for the registration of criminal cases against Union minister Anurag Thakur and ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Parvesh Verma for their speeches allegedly inciting violence against those protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).
It issued notices to the police and the Delhi government on Monday and posted the matter for hearing next after three weeks.
“The magistrate has gone by the view that sanction [under Sections 196 and 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure] was necessary to be taken prior to registering the case. This view does not appear to be correct,” said a bench of justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna while hearing Communist Party of India (Marxist) leaders Brinda Karat and KM Tiwari’s appeal against the Delhi court’s order.
“In many cases which affect public tranquillity, there is need for sanction as with time certain incidents heal and any prosecution may open old wounds.”
Karat and Tiwari moved the Delhi court in January 2020 a day after Thakur and Verma made the speeches allegedly inciting violence against the anti-CAA protesters.
The Delhi high court in June last year upheld the lower court’s order, saying since the complaint involved hate speech offences prior sanction was necessary.
Senior advocate Siddharth Agarwal, who appeared for Karat, told the Supreme Court there has been no investigation for three years into their complaint accusing Thakur and Verma of hate speech under Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, language, residence, etc) and 153B (imputations and assertion prejudicial to national integration) of the Indian Penal Code.
Agarwal added that Thakur and Verma’s speeches were intended for the anti-CAA protestors gathered at New Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh. He added later gunshots were also fired at the protesting students. Agarwal said it has to be investigated whether the speeches had communal overtones.
