By NE NOW NEWS
Guwahati: A Delhi court has issued a notice to Himanta Biswa Sarma on a plea filed by activist Harsh Mander seeking registration of an FIR against the Assam Chief Minister over his alleged remarks on “Miya Muslims”.
Additional Sessions Judge Sonu Agnihotri issued the notice while hearing a revision petition filed by Mander challenging an April 20 order of a magisterial court, which had declined to direct registration of an FIR against the BJP leader.
In an order dated May 26, the court noted submissions made by Mander’s counsel regarding the Ministry of Home Affairs’ standard operating procedure for Zero FIR and e-FIR.
“The counsel for the petitioner further drew my attention to the standard operating procedure (SOP) for Zero FIR and E-FIR issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs filed by the petitioner on record with the revision petition,” the court said.
“In view of the submissions made by the counsel for the petitioner, issue a notice of revision petition to the respondents on filing of appropriate reply for July 15, 2026,” the order added.
Mander had approached the court in April seeking registration of an FIR against Sarma over statements allegedly made on January 27 during an event in Digboi in Assam’s Tinsukia district.
According to the plea, Sarma allegedly stated that “four to five lakh Miya voters” would be removed from electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in Assam.
The petition also alleged that the Chief Minister made remarks suggesting that “only if they face troubles will they leave Assam” and that “we are ensuring that they cannot vote in Assam”.
‘Miya’ is commonly used as a term for Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam and is often viewed as pejorative. In recent years, some members of the community have reclaimed the term as an assertion of identity.
Before the sessions court, Mander’s counsel argued that the trial court had wrongly rejected the application on grounds of territorial jurisdiction, contending that information relating to a cognisable offence could be lodged at any police station under the concept of Zero FIR.
The court recorded the submissions and issued notice to the respondents in the revision petition.