In response to a petition seeking the registration of first information reports (FIRs) against BJP leaders Anurag Thakur and Parvesh Verma for alleged hate speech, the Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the Delhi government and the Delhi Commissioner of Police.
A Bench of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna orally observed that the reasoning of courts below that sanction under Section 196 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) was required may not be correct.
In response to Thakur’s statement, “desh ke gaddaron ko goli maaron,” Justice Joseph said: “Gaddar means traitor I believe? Here goli maaron was not in terms of medicine prescription, certainly.“
The court was hearing an appeal against a June 2022 Delhi High Court judgement that dismissed a petition filed by the leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Brinda Karat and KM Tiwari, challenging the trial court’s reluctance to compel the filing of FIRs against the two BJP leaders.
The speeches by the two leaders were made during the Delhi Assembly elections in 2020, amid the national capital’s anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) gatherings.
Notably, the High Court voiced concern in its judgement about the petitioners’ circumvention of the CrPC’s remedies, calling it a trend and a “worrying phenomenon that has gained traction and is in vogue these days.”
Additionally, the police’s status report showed that no cognisable offence had been substantiated.
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