New Delhi: The Supreme Court, will hear the case of Haridwar Hate Speech, and will take immediate action against those who allegedly made these hate speeches targeting the Muslim community at two separate events in Haridwar and Delhi. The matter will be heard by a three-judge bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli.
The petition has been filed by journalist Qurban Ali and former Patna High Court judge Anjana Prakash. They want impartial investigation to be done by a Special Investigation Team (SIT).
On Monday the Supreme Court stated that it was ready to hear out the case, after the matter was mentioned before CJI Ramana by senior advocate Kapil Sibal.
“I have moved this PIL in respect of what happened in Dharam Sansad in Haridwar on December 17 and 19 (last year). We are living in difficult times where slogan in country has changed from ‘Satyamev Jayate’ to ‘Shastramev Jayate’,” Sibal said.
Further he told to the CJI that an FIR has been registered, but no accused has been arrested yet. “No action will be taken without the court’s intervention,” he said.
“Slogans of the country have changed from Satyameva Jayate to Sashastramev Jayate,” Kapil Sibal, senior lawyer, told the top court yesterday.
After much outrage, the Uttarakhand police first filed an FIR naming only one person – Waseem Rizvi who converted and calls himself Jitendra Tyagi – and ‘unknown persons’. Later, four more names were added – Sagar Sidhu Maharaj and Yati Narasimhanand, Dharamdas and Pooja Shakun Pandey.
The conclave was organised by Yati Narasimhanand, a religious leader who has been accused in the past of inciting violence with his inflammatory speeches.
In one of the controversial clips, Prabodhanand Giri was heard saying: “Like Myanmar, our police, our politicians, our Army and every Hindu must pick up weapons and conduct a Safayi Abhiyan (ethnic cleansing). There is no other option left.”
He later told NDTV that he had no regrets. “I am not ashamed of what I have said. I am not afraid of police. I stand by my statement,” he said.
Another video from the controversial meet showed Pooja Shakun Pandey, aka “Sadhvi Annapurna”, giving a call to arms and urging violence against Muslims.
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