SC agrees to hear PIL on alleged hate speeches made at Haridwar
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a PIL 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 no action has been taken against those who made the hate speeches despite registration of FIR.
I have moved this PIL in respect of what happened in Dharam Sansad in Haridwar on December 17, and 19th,” Sibal said.
Alright, we will take up the matter, the CJI told Sibal who mentioned the plea filed by Delhi resident Qurban Ali and Senior Advocate Anjana Prakash.
Appearing for the petitioners, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal said, “We are living in different times where slogan has changed from satyameva jayathe to shashrameva jayathe”.
The CJI then queried if an inquiry wasn’t already going on in the matter.
“We will look into it. But hasn’t some action already been taken?” the CJI asked.
Sibal replied that though FIRs have been filed, no one had been arrested so far.
“We will take up the matter,” said the CJI.
The petitioners said in their plea that they were constrained to approach the top court seeking its urgent intervention “in respect of the hate speeches that have been delivered between the 17th and 19th of December, 2021 in two events organized in Haridwar (by one Yati Narsinghanand), and in Delhi (by an organization self-styled as ‘Hindu Yuva Vahini’) (hereinafter collectively referred to as “the events”) with the apparent objective of declaring war against a significant section of the Indian Citizenry.”
It said “the aforementioned hate speeches consisted of open calls for genocide of Muslims in order to achieve ethnic cleansing. It is pertinent to note that the said speeches 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.”
