The Supreme Court on Tuesday protected Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh from arrest in a hate speech case registered against him in Lucknow by the Uttar Pradesh Police.
A Bench led by Justice Ashok Bhushan also issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government on Mr. Singh’s contention that permission of the Rajya Sabha Chairman needed to be obtained under Section 196 of the Code of Criminal Procedure before prosecuting him.
Senior advocate Vivek Tankha, for Mr. Singh, submitted that “the petitioner being Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), permission of the Chairman of Rajya Sabha ought to have been obtained before prosecuting the petitioner.”
The court also sought Uttar Pradesh government’s response to a plea by Mr. Singh to club and quash the FIRs lodged against him after his press conference on August 12 last year at which he alleged that the State government was favouring a certain class of society.
During the hearing, the Bench, however, remarked that no one should divide the society on lines of caste and religion.
Mr. Tankha contended that the police did not follow proper procedure before registering the case or seek prior sanction.
The AAP leader had moved the apex court seeking quashing of multiple FIRs lodged against him in various districts of Uttar Pradesh after the press conference, saying they have been “maliciously instituted to unleash political vendetta”.
In a separate petition, Mr. Singh has also challenged a January 21 order of the Allahabad High Court, which had refused to quash the FIR in Lucknow.
In one of his pleas filed in the apex court seeking quashing of multiple FIRs, Mr. Singh stated, “In the press conference, the petitioner had merely raised certain social issues, namely neglect and apathy of the government towards a certain class of society.”
