New Delhi: When elections come, political battles are often fought in court, the Supreme Court remarked on Tuesday while hearing pleas against Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
The bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice N V Anjaria was hearing two petitions alleging hate speech by Sarma that were mentioned for listing.
“My Lord, there is a plea against hate speech by member of political party. There is a video also now of the chief minister taking a shot at the minorities etc,” advocate Nizam Pasha said on behalf of one of the petitioners.
“The problem is when elections come, it is often fought here in the Supreme Court only. We will see,” the CJI responded, as reported by Bar and Bench.
The petitions are by the CPI(M) and Annie Raja, a leader of the CPI. These petitions object to a public speech delivered by Sarma on January 27 as well as a video shared on the BJP Assam unit’s X handle depicting him discharging a firearm towards an animated image of two men who seem to be Muslim.
Sarma, in his speech, had allegedly said that “four to five lakh Miya voters” would be removed from the electoral rolls and that “Himanta Biswa Sarma and the BJP are directly against Miyas”.
A purported video was shared by the BJP’s Assam unit on February 7, showing Sarma shooting towards an animated image of two Muslim men positioned within the crosshairs of the weapon.
This was accompanied by, and in parts overlaid with, textual phrases such as “Point blank shot” and “No Mercy”.
The plea by the CPI(M) states that such material serves to reinforce and amplify a climate of hostility, exclusion, and intimidation directed against the minority community.
“It is pertinent to note that following severe backlash over this video, it was removed from the official handle of BJP’s State Unit; nevertheless, the material continues to be widely circulated and disseminated through multiple other accounts and platforms,” it has been pointed out in the petition.
The constitutional scheme imposes an inviolable duty upon ministers of the Union and the states to preserve national unity and constitutional fraternity and any conduct that foments communal hatred or social fragmentation strikes at the very root of the constitutional trust reposed in holders of public office and falls outside the permissible sphere of ministerial power, the petition states.
It has also been contended that the Assam CM’s conduct, besides fuelling communal hostility and encouraging the social and economic boycott and exclusion of a minority community, also squarely attracts criminal liability under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), particularly under Sections 196, 197, 299, 353-corresponding to erstwhile Sections 153-A, 153-B, 295-A, and 505 of the Indian Penal Code.
The registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against Sarma has been sought in the petition for the above speeches and conduct. It also seems a probe by a special investigation team into the same.
The Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind had also moved the Court earlier against the CM’s speech.
Hate speech targeting religious communities and religious personalities constitutes an aggravated constitutional wrong, it has been submitted.
“Such speech not only harms the sensibilities and emotions of the followers of those personalities, but also seriously affects public order in the social sphere and also the overall moral compass of the society at large which is highly diverse and religious,” it was contended.
