Haridwar Dharam Sansad: SC Asks Uttarakhand Govt for Report on Hate Speech Cases

The SC also issued a notice to the Himachal government about a Dharam Sansad event scheduled to be held soon.

A Haridwar court on Monday, 7 February, had granted bail to religious leader Yati Narsinghanand, in a case filed against him in connection with the Haridwar ‘Dharam Sansad’ where calls were given for the genocide of Muslims.

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

The Supreme Court on Wednesday, 13 April, asked the Uttarakhand government to file a status report on the cases related to the hate speeches made in Haridwar Dharam Sansad allegedly inciting violence against minority communities.

The state government informed the court that four First Information Reports (FIRs) were filed in the matter, out of which a charge sheet was filed in three.

The apex court also issued a notice to the Himachal Pradesh government about a proposed Dharam Sansad event scheduled to be held in the state on Sunday and sought a response.

The top court also allowed petitioner-journalist Qurban Ali to intimate the concerned authority for a request to cancel the event. The matter will next be heard on 22 April.

Appearing for the petitioner, senior advocate Kapil Sibal sought the cancellation of the event.

"I cannot even read out the kind of things that are being said at such events. Cannot read them out in public," he said.

Background

The court was hearing a petition by a former judge of Patna High Court, Justice Anjana Prakash, and journalist Qurban Ali.

On 12 January, the Supreme Court had ordered the Uttarakhand government, central government, and Delhi Police to reply to a petition to the Dharam Sansad.

The plea stated that between 17 to 19 December, at two separate events in Delhi and Uttarakhand's pilgrimage city of Haridwar, multiple calls to kill minorities and attack their religious spaces were made.

A part of the Haridwar event was live-streamed on social media. The videos of some of the speeches also went viral.

Yati Narsinghanand, the Dasna Devi temple head and one of the organisers of the religious congregation in Hardiwar, in December, had made inflammatory remarks and calls for violence at the event. Narsinghanand has also, separately, been accused of making derogatory remarks against women. He was arrested in connection with that case as well.