New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday, April 17, issued a notice to Delhi Police in response to a plea filed by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI (M)] leaders, Brinda Karat and K.M. Tiwari, seeking first information reports (FIR) against Union minister Anurag Thakur and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Parvesh Verma for their alleged hate speeches made during protests against Citizenship Amendment Act at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi in 2020.A two-judge bench of Justice K.M. Joseph and Justice B.V. Nagarathna listed the matter for hearing after three weeks.The petitioners approached the apex court after the trial court and the Delhi high court had refused to take up their plea for a hearing citing some technical reasons. On August 26, 2021, the trial court had dismissed the petitioners’ complaint on the ground that it was not sustainable as the requisite sanction from the competent authority – which is the Union government – was not obtained. Later, in June 2022, the Delhi high court had refused to interfere with the trial court’s order.To this, the apex court said that the conclusion of the lower courts that sanction under Section 196 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) was required before taking cognisance may be wrong. The said Section deals with prosecution for offences against the state and for criminal conspiracy to commit such offence.Referring to the part of the speech where Thakur had said “desh ke gaddaro ko goli maaro…(shoot the traitors)”, the Bench said the remark “ goli maaro” was “certainly not said in terms of a medical prescription”, according to The Hindu.It was the petitioner’s plea that Thakur, at a rally on January 27, 2020, allegedly instigated the crowd to raise an incendiary slogan after lashing out at anti-CAA protesters. The petitioners found fault with the trial court’s and high court’s refusal to direct police to lodge FIRs.The high court had noted that the Delhi Police had conducted a preliminary probe into the matter and informed the trial court that prima facie no cognisable offence was made out and that for ordering any investigation, the trial court was required to take cognisance of the facts and evidence before it, which was not permissible without a valid sanction. This, the petitioners said, prompted them to move the apex court.The petitioners argued that it is necessary for the police to lodge FIRs under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc.), 153-B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), The Hindu report said.
