‘Shoot’ does not mean medicine… Supreme Court seeks response from Delhi Police in hate speech case against Anurag Thakur
The Supreme Court has sought answers from the Delhi Government and Delhi Police Commissioner in the hate speech case of BJP leader Anurag Thakur and Pravesh Verma. A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court demanding registration of an FIR against Pravesh Verma and Anurag Thakur, on which the apex court has given this order during the hearing.
In the hate speech case against Anurag Thakur and Pravesh Verma, the lower court refused to order the registration of an FIR. Against this order, the Delhi High Court had dismissed the petition against it. CPM leader Vrinda Karat has filed a petition against this in the Supreme Court. While hearing this petition, the Supreme Court has asked the Delhi Police to respond.
Comment on the shooting statement
A bench of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagaratna issued notice to the Delhi Police on the petition and asked them to reply within three weeks. During the hearing, the bench took note of the Magistrate’s stand that the requirement of obtaining sanction for registering an FIR against BJP leaders was not correct.
The bench also said in the oral remarks, shooting cannot mean a pill containing medicine. Justice Joseph said, I understand that mattress means traitor. To shoot here would not mean a pill containing medicine.
High Court dismissed the petition
On June 13 last year, the Delhi High Court dismissed a petition by CPP leaders Brinda Karat and KM Tiwari against alleged hate speech by two BJP MPs. The High Court refused to interfere with the order of the lower court, saying that under the law, in the present context, it is necessary to take approval from the competent authority for registering an FIR.
The petitioners, in their complaint before the trial court, had claimed that Thakur and Verma had “tried to incite people, resulting in three incidents of firing at two different protest sites in Delhi”.
Anurag gave a speech in 2020
The petitioners alleged that on January 27, 2020, at a rally in Rithala in the national capital Delhi, Anurag Thakur had instigated the crowd against the anti-CAA protesters sitting in Shaheen Bagh and said – shoot the traitors of the country. It was claimed that Pravesh Verma had also given a provocative speech on January 28, 2020 against the protesters of Shaheen Bagh.
On August 26, 2021, the trial court dismissed the complaint of the petitioners on flimsy grounds. The court had said that in this case the requisite approval was not taken from the competent authority.
