76 SC Lawyers Write To CJI, Seek Suo Moto Cognisance Over Calls For ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ At Events In Delhi, Haridwar

The letter comes after police informed that no arrest was made in connection with alleged hate speeches delivered at a “Dharma Sansad” held in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar recently.

New Delhi: 76 lawyers of the Supreme Court have written to Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, seeking for the top court to take suo moto cognisance of the calls for “ethnic cleansing” at two recent religious events in Delhi and Haridwar.

According to a report by NDTV, the lawyers mentioned a list of people who had given the call. They wrote that in absence of police action, “Urgent judicial intervention is required to prevent such events that seem to have become the order of the day”.

The letter by the Supreme Court advocates points to the religious conclaves in Haridwar and Delhi.

It is signed by eminent lawyers such as Dushyant Dave, Prashant Bhushan, Vrinda Grover, Salman Khurshid and former Patna High Court judge Anjana Prakash.

“The aforementioned events and the speeches delivered during the same are not mere hate speeches but amount to an open call for murder of an entire community,” the letter reads, as quoted by NDTV.

It stated that the speeches pose a “grave threat not just to the unity and integrity of our country but also endanger the lives of millions of Muslim citizens”.

“It may be noted that no effective steps have been taken under the provisions of 153, 153A, 153B, 295A, 504, 506, 120B, 34 of IPC in respect of the earlier hate speeches. Thus, urgent judicial intervention is required to prevent such events that seem to have become the order of the day,” the letter sent to Chief Justice Ramana reads, NDTV reported. 

It was also mentioned that several petitions have been filed on it and are pending with the court.   

The advocates have expressed hopes for prompt action “in your capacity as the head of the judicial wing of the State and knowing your Lordship's commitment to both the independence of Judiciary as also the constitutional values that are fundamental to the functioning of a multicultural nation such as ours”.

No Arrest Made In Connection With ‘Dharma Sansad’: Police

The letter comes after police on Friday informed that no arrest was made so far in connection with alleged hate speeches delivered at a “Dharma Sansad” held in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar recently.

An FIR was lodged against Jitendra Narayan Tyagi, earlier known as Waseem Rizvi, and others in connection with the event on the basis of a complaint filed by a Jwalapur resident, Haridwar Kotwali Station House Officer (SHO) Rakinder Singh informing as he stated that an investigation in the matter was underway.

Tyagi changed his name from Waseem Rizvi after converting to Hinduism earlier this month, he said.

“We have also received some footage of the event from the complainant, which are being looked into,” the SHO said, as quoted by news agency PTI.

On whether arrests are likely to be made, he stated that may happen only after the conclusion of the probe.

The FIR has been registered under section 153A of the Indian Penal Code (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language etc. and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), Superintendent of Police (city), Haridwar Swatantra Kumar had informed.

Extremely provocative speeches were allegedly made by the participants at the three-day event held at the Ved Niketan Dham in Haridwar last week.

At the event, several speakers allegedly made inflammatory and provocative speeches where they allegedly called for the killing of the members of minority communities, asking people to take up arms and shoot a former prime minister of the country.

The “Dharma Sansad” was organised by Yati Narasimhanand Giri of the Juna Akhada, who is already under police scanner for making hate speeches and inciting violence against the minorities in the past, PTI reported.