'Urgent Judicial Intervention Is Required': SC Lawyers Write to CJI on Anti-Muslim Hate Speeches

New Delhi: Seventy-six lawyers practicing in the Supreme Court have written to Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana, highlighting two recent events organised by Hindu right-wing organisations where open calls for violence against Muslims were made. One of the events was organised by the Hindu Yuva Vahini in Delhi on December 17 and Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati in Haridwar on December 19.

In their letter, the lawyers have asked CJI Ramana to take suo moto cognisance of these incidents. Action must be taken under Section 120B, 121A, 124A, 153A, 153B, 295A and 298 of the Indian Penal Code, the lawyers have urged. These speeches, the signatories continue, are not entirely novel – similarly violent hate speeches have been made in the past too, but “no effective steps have been taken”.

Read the full text of the letter below.

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Hon’ble Mr.Justice N.V.Ramana
The Chief Justice of India
Supreme Court of India
Tilak Marg
New Delhi-110001

Subject – Prayer for taking of Suo Moto Cognizance of hate speeches calling for the genocide of Muslims given in Haridwar and Delhi.

Also read: Hindutva Brigade Disrupts 7 Christmas Events Across India

This is to bring to your kind notice that between the 17th & 19th of December 2021 at two separate events organized in Delhi (by the Hindu Yuva Vahini) and Haridwar (by Yati Narsinghanand), hate speeches consisting of open calls for genocide of Muslims in order to achieve ethnic cleansing, were made by the following:

1. Yati Narsinghanand Giri
2. Sagar Sindhu Maharaj
3. Dharamdas Maharaj
4. Premanand Maharaj
5. Sadhvi Annapoorna alias Pooja Shakun Pandey
6. Swami Anand Swaroop
7. Ashwani Upadhyay
8. Suresh Chavhanke
9. Swami Prabodhanand Giri

The aforementioned events and the speeches delivered during the same are not mere hate speeches but amount to an open call for murder of an entire community. The said speeches thus, pose a grave threat not just to the unity and integrity of our country but also endanger the lives of millions of Muslim citizens.

In view of the seriousness and gravity of the aforementioned events it is most humbly prayed that Your Lordship may take suo-moto cognizance of the same and direct that action be taken against the guilty persons under Sections 120B, 121A, 153A, 153B, 295A and 298 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

Also read: A Hate-Filled Call to Arms and Violence at Haridwar

It is also pointed out that the recent speeches are a part of a series of similar speeches that we have come across in the past. It may be noted that no effective steps have been taken under the provisions of 153, 153A, 153B, 295A, 504, 506, 120B, 34 of IPC in respect of the earlier hate speeches. Thus, urgent judicial intervention is required to prevent such events that seem to have become the order of the day. We have also been informed that in this regard a few Petitions under Article 32 of the Constitution of India are also pending for consideration before the Hon’ble Supreme Court.

We are writing to your Lordship hoping for prompt action in your capacity as the head of the judicial wing of the State and knowing your Lordship’s commitment to both the independence of Judiciary as also the constitutional values that are fundamental to the functioning of a multicultural nation such as ours.

Regards

Signatories:

1. Anjana Prakash, Sr.Adv. & Former Judge, High Court of Patna
2. Dushyant Dave, Sr.Adv.
3. Salman Khurshid, Sr.Adv.
4. Prashant Bhushan, Adv.
5. Raju Ramachandran, Sr.Adv.
6. Huzefa Ahmadi, Sr.Adv.
7. C.U.Singh, Sr.Adv.
8. Meenakshi Arora, Sr.Adv.
9. Vrinda Grover, Adv.
10. Harin Raval, Sr.Adv.
11. Siddharth Dave, Sr.Adv.
12.Vibha Makhija, Sr.Adv.
13. Kavin Gulati, Sr.Adv.
14. P.V.Surendranath, Sr.Adv.
15. Basavprabhu Patil, Sr.Adv.
16. Ejaz Maqbool, Adv.
17. Amita Joseph, Adv.
18. Shomona Khanna, Adv.
19. Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi, Adv.
20. Amit Anand Tiwari, Adv.
21. Shadaan Farasat, Adv.
22. Jagdeep S.Chhokar, Adv.
23. Mohd.Nizamuddin Pasha, Adv.
24. Anuj Prakaash, Adv.
25. Shoeb Alam, Adv.
26. Rajesh Tyagi, Adv.
27. Pyoli, Adv.
28. Kabir Dixit, Adv.
29. Aldanish Rein, Adv.
30. Cheryl D’Souza, Adv.
31. Andleeb Naqvi, Adv.
32. Prerna Chaturvedi, Adv.
33. Nanita Sharma, Adv.
34. Payal Gaikwad, Adv.
35. Ritesh Dhar Dubey, Adv.
36. Shahab Ahmad, Adv.
37. Surya Prakash, Adv.
38. Shashankraj Singh, Adv.
39. Priyanka Shukla, Adv.
40. Shalini Gera, Adv.
41. Aditya Shrivastava, Adv.
42. Afreen, Adv.
43. Subhash Chandran KR, Adv.
44. Rauf Rahim, Adv.
45. Kumaresh Trivedi, Adv.
46. Anas Tanwir, Adv.
47. Tahini Bhushan, Adv.
48. Vinayak Pant, Adv.
49. Sitwat Nabi, Adv.
50.Vinayak Pant, Adv.
51. Abhisht Hela, Adv.
52. Syed Jafar Alam, Adv.
53. Chandresan B.Rao, Adv.
54. Aditya Kumar, Adv.
55. Mani Gupta, Adv.
56. Abhishek N.Tripathi, Adv.
57. Purvish Jitendra Malkan, Adv.
58. Harsh Parashar, Adv.
59. Avani Bansal, Adv.
60. Mishika Singh, Adv.
61. Rukhsana Choudhury, Adv.
62. Lara Jeswani, Adv.
63. Kritika Agarwal, Adv.
64. Talha Salaria, Adv.
65. Surya Rajappan, Adv.
66. Naveen Nagarjuna, Adv.
67. Mohtasim Syed, Adv.
68. Bharathimohan, Adv.
69. Neha Rathi, Adv.
70. Anubha Rastogi, Adv.
71. Madhur Bharatiya, Adv.
72. Vertika Mani Tripathi, Adv.
73. Yogmaya M.G., Adv.
74. Chandrachur Bhattacharyya, Adv.
75. Nayantara Roy, Adv.
76. Jayant Tripathi, Adv.