The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a petition seeking action against those who made hate speeches during the recent Dharam Sansad held at Haridwar in Uttarakhand.
A bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana took note of the submissions of senior advocate Kapil Sibal that despite the registration of a first information report (FIR), no arrests have been made in the case.
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“FIRs have been filed, no arrests have been done. This is in the State of Uttarakhand. Without the intervention of your lordships no action will be taken,” LiveLaw quoted Sibal as saying.
“I have moved this PIL in respect of what happened at the Dharam Sansad in Haridwar on December 17 and 19. We are living in difficult times where slogans in the country have changed from ‘Satyamev Jayate’ to ‘Shashtramev Jayate’,” Sibal said.
The CJI agreed to take up the matter. “Alright, we will take up the matter,” the CJI said.
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The petitioners, journalist Qurban Ali and former judge of the Patna high court Anjana Prakash, approached the apex court seeking its urgent intervention in the matter pertaining to the hate speeches delivered between December 17 and 19, 2021 in separate two events – one organised in Haridwar by Yati Narsinghanand and the other in Delhi by Hindu Yuva Vahini.
They have filed the petition against the Ministry of Home Affairs, Delhi police commissioner, and the Uttarakhand director general of police.
A special investigation team is probing the recent Haridwar event where hate speeches were delivered against Muslims.
Two separate FIRs have been lodged in connection with last month’s event in which provocative speeches were made against Muslims, triggering outrage.
Video footage from the event has surfaced on social media. No arrests have been made so far.
Five people were named in the first FIR and 10 in the second case lodged over the hate speeches.