The Supreme Court bench was hearing a petition filed by suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma for transfer of FIRs lodged against him in different parts of the country to Delhi for his remarks on Prophet Mohammad during a TV debate. The bench also took a tough stand on the news channel Times Now for hosting that TV debate. The court asked what was that debate on TV for? To promote only one agenda? Why did he choose the subject under consideration in the court?
Nupur Sharma. (Photo: PTI)
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to grant relief to suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma, who had sought transfer of the FIR lodged against him to Delhi for his remarks on Prophet Mohammad.
The top court reprimanded the BJP leader for his remarks. The top court accused the leader of inciting sentiments across the country through his remarks and said he should apologize to the country.
The court was hearing a petition filed by Nupur Sharma for transfer of FIRs registered against her in different parts of the country to Delhi. Denying this, the court has asked Sharma’s lawyer to approach the High Court.
In the hearing of the case, a bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice JB Pardiwala said that Nupur Sharma is single-handedly responsible for the ‘inflammation’ (violence) across India and she should apologize to the entire country.
According to the Bar and Bench report, the top court said, ‘This woman is alone responsible for what is happening in the country. He and his uncontrolled tongue have set the whole country on fire.
The Supreme Court said that his remarks were responsible for the unfortunate incident in Udaipur, where a tailor was murdered.
Justice Surya Kant said, “The way she has instigated sentiments across the country… We saw the (TV) debate about how he was instigated, but after that the way he said all this and later it came to know that he is also a lawyer, it is shameful. He should apologize to the whole country.
According to the report, the bench also took a tough stand on the news channel (Times Now) for hosting the TV debate in which Nupur Sharma appeared as a guest and made remarks against Prophet Mohammad.
This TV debate was on the Gyanvapi Masjid case, which is currently pending before the court. The court asked, ‘What was that debate on TV for? To promote only one agenda? Why did he choose the matter under consideration in the court?
The senior advocate appearing for Sharma even submitted during the hearing that multiple FIRs cannot be registered for the same offence. While saying this, he cited TV anchor Arnab Goswami and TT Antony case.
Singh: If this is the position then every citizen will have no right to speak
Justice Kant: in a democracy everyone has a right to speak. In a democracy grass has right to grow and donkey has the right to eat #NupurSharma
— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) July 1, 2022
He said, ‘It was not done for any purpose. It was being said again and again (during the TV debate) that it was a fountain and not a Shivling. It was said by a person who came to argue from the other side, not by the anchor. If this is the attitude, then no citizen will have the right to speak.
To this, Justice Kant said, ‘In a democracy everyone has the right to speak, in a democracy the grass has the right to grow and the donkey has the right to eat’.
On Singh’s insistence on merging all FIRs, referring to the Arnab Goswami case, the bench said, “The freedom enjoyed by a journalist cannot be compared to that of a party spokesperson who makes rhetoric by appearing on TV and expressing sentiments of the people.” provokes.
Singh: But the fundamental rights.. here it was only one incident. There was only one FIR in Delhi
Justice Kant: What happened in that FIR?
Singh: she has joined probe
Justice Kant: then what happened
There must have been red carpet for you. A red carpet !@DelhiPolice— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) July 1, 2022
The bench also said that they can refer these matters to the respective High Courts.
The court also took a dig at Delhi Police. The bench remarked, ‘What has Delhi Police done? Don’t open our mouths.
The bench questioned what it did after the complaint was filed against Sharma.
“On her (Nupur’s) complaint, one person was arrested but despite several FIRs against him, Delhi Police has not caught him yet,” the court said.
Supreme Court slams Nupur Sharma for her arrogance and says because she is the spokesperson of a party, power has gone to her head.
— ANI (@ANI) July 1, 2022
On Sharma’s counsel saying that she was cooperating in the investigation and was not running away, the bench said, “What happened then? There must be a red carpet laying there for them!’
“If you are a spokesperson of a party, it is not a license to say things like this”, Supreme Court says on #NupurSharma comments.
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) July 1, 2022
The court said that the said petition smacks of his conceit that the magistrates of the country are nothing before him. The bench also said that being the spokesperson of any party does not give her a license to make such statements.
#SupremeCourt #NupurSharma pic.twitter.com/YESdD4HWxI
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) July 1, 2022
The court also pointed out the arrogant attitude of Nupur Sharma, saying that she is the spokesperson of a party, its loss has gone to her head.
The court further told him, ‘When a complaint is filed against a person, he is arrested, but in your case no one dared to touch you. It shows your prestige.
At the end of the hearing, the court refused to hear this petition, after which permission was sought from Sharma to withdraw it.
Supreme Court refuses to entertain Nupur Sharma’s plea to club the multiple FIRs registered over her remarks on Prophet Muhammed in a TV channel debate.
Petition dismissed as withdrawn with liberty to pursue alternate remedies.#NupurSharma #SupremeCourt
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) July 1, 2022
It is known that cases have been registered against Nupur Sharma for remarks against Prophet Mohammad in many districts of Maharashtra besides in Kolkata.
An FIR was registered against Nupur Sharma on 28 May at Pydhuni police station in South Mumbai on the complaint of Raza Academy joint secretary Irfan Sheikh. In this regard, he was asked to appear before the Pydhuni police station at 11 am on June 25 to record his statement to Sharma.
Earlier, the Bhiwandi Police of Maharashtra had summoned Nupur Sharma in this case and asked her to record her statement on June 15.
Police had said that the Bhiwandi police had registered a case against Nupur Sharma following a complaint lodged by a representative of Raza Academy on May 30. Police had said that it has also registered a case against expelled BJP leader Naveen Kumar Jindal.
Apart from this, the Mumbra police in Thane had asked Nupur Sharma to appear before them on June 22 to record her statement in connection with the remarks against Prophet Mohammad.
In early June, an FIR was also registered against the then BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma at Kodhwa police station in Pune.
A complaint was registered against him by the Kolkata Police at the Amherst Street police station and summons were issued against him on June 23. In these cases, even after summoning Nupur Sharma to appear before the police, she did not appear anywhere.
Not only this, in the month of June, three weeks after the suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma made remarks against Prophet Mohammad, an FIR was registered in the name of Navika Kumar of the news channel ‘Times Now’.
Controversy erupted after Nupur’s remarks made during Times Now’s prime time show hosted by Navika Kumar.
In the FIR lodged at Nanalpet police station on the basis of a complaint by a Muslim cleric from Parbhani, Maharashtra, Navika Kumar has been accused of hurting religious sentiments by malicious intent.
Significantly, protests were held in several cities and towns across the country on June 10, demanding his arrest by suspended BJP leaders Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal for their remarks against the Prophet.
Two people were killed during a violent demonstration in Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand. Protests turned violent in several districts including Allahabad and Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh and Howrah in West Bengal. Apart from the shutdown in Srinagar, protests were peaceful in Delhi and parts of Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Bihar and Maharashtra.
An application was filed in a court in Muzaffarnagar district of Bihar against Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal on June 10, in which radical Hindutva leader Yeti Narasimhanand has also been named as a co-accused.
The petition alleged that the statements of Sharma, Jindal and Narasimhanand could incite communal violence.
On June 9, Delhi Police booked 31 people including Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, hardline Hindutva saint Yeti Narasimhanand for allegedly posting and sharing messages inciting public peace and disturbing public peace on social media. FIR has been registered.
(with input from news agency language)
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