Nupur Sharma reprimanded by Supreme Court, told ‘responsible’ for Udaipur incident
Nupur Sharma, suspended from the BJP, had applied in the Supreme Court to shift all the FIRs registered against her in different states of the country to Delhi in the Prophet controversy.
During the hearing of her petition, the top court held Nupur Sharma’s statements as ‘responsible’ for the unfortunate incident in Udaipur.
A vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala refused to entertain Sharma’s plea and asked him to approach the High Court. After this Nupur Sharma withdrew her application from the Supreme Court.
Nupur Sharma had made controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammad during a TV debate last month, against which about a dozen FIRs were lodged against him in many states of the country.
More than a dozen Muslim countries had come to protest against this statement and had officially lodged a protest with the Government of India.
However, later the Government of India said that these are statements made by some ‘fringe element’ and do not reflect the views of the Government of India.
Supreme Court’s strict comments
The Supreme Court, during its hearing, termed Nupur Sharma’s remarks as “painful” and asked- “What was the need for her to make such a statement?”
During the hearing, the Supreme Court also asked that apart from running the agenda of a TV channel, what was the purpose of debating a matter which is already under the court.
The Supreme Court questioned Nupur Sharma’s rhetoric and said, “If you are a spokesperson of a party, then you do not have the license to make such statements.”
Senior advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for Nupur Sharma, said that his client has immediately withdrawn his statement and apologized for the same.
On this, the Supreme Court expressed its displeasure and said that he should have gone on TV and apologized to the whole country.
The Supreme Court told Nupur Sharma’s lawyer, “She took too long and withdrew the statement conditionally. She (Nupur) said that if someone’s feelings were hurt, she apologizes.”
The Supreme Court said, “The way Nupur Sharma instigated sentiments across the country, she is the only one responsible for whatever is happening in the country.”
Expressing displeasure over even filing the application in the Supreme Court, the apex court said, “This petition shows his arrogance, it seems that the magistrates of the country are too small for him.”
The court also told Nupur Sharma’s lawyer, “When there is an FIR against you and you are not arrested, it shows your reach. They think there are people behind them and they keep making irresponsible statements.”
Nupur Sharma’s lawyer sought permission from the court to withdraw her petition and also assured that “Nupur will not go anywhere and will cooperate fully with the agency whenever called for investigation.”
