Assam government to reply to ‘hate speech’ petitions against Himanta Biswa Sarma by May 28

Guwahati: The Assam government on Wednesday informed the Gauhati High Court that it will file its response in a batch of public interest litigations (PIL) alleging “hate speech” by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar and Justice Arun Dev Choudhury posted the matter for further hearing on May 28, recording the state’s submission that its affidavit would be filed before the next date of hearing and shared in advance with the petitioners’ counsel.

The petitions were first heard on February 26, when the Bench noted a “fissiparous tendency” in the matter and issued notices to the Chief Minister, the Centre, the state government and the Director General of Police.

The case comes amid the ongoing Assembly election process, with polling held on April 9 and counting scheduled for May 4.

One of the petitions has been filed by Sahitya Akademi awardee Hiren Gohain, former Director General of Police Harekrishna Deka and journalist Paresh Malakar. Separate petitions have also been filed by the Communist Party of India and the Communist Party of India (Marxist). While the CPI(M) had named the Bharatiya Janata Party as a respondent, the High Court declined to issue notice to the party at this stage.

Earlier, on February 16, the Supreme Court of India declined to entertain similar pleas concerning a now-deleted video allegedly showing the Chief Minister firing a rifle at members of a particular community. A Bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi, had directed the petitioners to approach the Gauhati High Court and sought an expedited hearing.

The petitioners have contended that the alleged remarks could deepen social divisions. One plea stated that the Chief Minister “openly admitted to having directed members of his political party to deliberately file complaints against Bengali-origin Muslims.”

The petitions further allege that the Chief Minister is “sullying his high constitutional office” by engaging in “blatant ‘hate speech’ against a minority community” and making statements that could incite discrimination, social and economic boycott, and communal disharmony.

They have also sought the constitution of a Special Investigation Team, headed by a retired High Court judge, to probe the allegations, arguing that “despite widely disseminated and publicly recorded speeches no suo motu FIR has been registered by the state authorities”.