New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday (April 29) took the view that no cognisable offence could be made out for registration of an FIR over alleged hate speeches by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Anurag Thakur and Parvesh Verma in the year 2020, reported LiveLaw.A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta delivered the judgment in the case which rose from Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI (M)) leader Brinda Karat’s plea challenging a Delhi high court order which upheld the magistrate’s refusal to direct the registration of FIR.“The high court has, on an independent assessment, held that the speeches in question do not disclose the commission of any cognizable offence, observing that the statements were not directed against any specific community nor did they incite violence or public disorder,” said the top court in its judgement.“Upon a careful consideration of the material placed on record, including the alleged speeches, the status report dated 26th February, 2020 submitted before the Trial Court, and the reasons recorded by the courts below, we are in agreement with the conclusion that no cognizable offence is made out”, said the Supreme Court.Karat’s petition had cited different speeches made by Thakur and Verma, including a the speech dated January 27, 2020 given by Anurag Thakur at a rally shouting the slogan “desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaron saalon ko”.The petition also made a reference to a speech made by Parvesh Verma dated January 27-28, 2020, while he was campaigning for the BJP and subsequently in an interview given to media.The petition alleged that the speech threatened use of force to remove protestors who were protesting at Shaheen Bagh against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and to promote hatred and enmity against Muslim persons by portraying them as invaders who will enter houses and rape and kill people.After examining the records of the case, the bench didn’t find any ground to interfere with the high court order, reported LiveLaw.It however found fault in the high court’s observation that that prior sanction is required before a Magistrate can order registration of FIR under Section 156(3) CrPC, and observed that prior sanction is not required at the pre-cognisance stage. The top court set aside the high court order to this limited extent while ruling that no cognisable offence was made out against the BJP leaders.