Lucknow Court Dismisses Defamation Complaint Filed Against CM Yogi Adityanath Over 'Kathmullapan' Remark

A special MP/MLA court in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow district has dismissed a defamation complaint filed against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over his 'Kathmullapan' remark while addressing the Legislative Council in February this year. A video of the remark was shared on his official 'X' (formerly Twitter) account. Addl. Civil Judge (Sr. Div.)/ACJM Alok Verma observed that since the statements in question were made in the Legislative Council by the UP CM, they are protected under Article 194 of the Constitution of India and are not liable to be questioned in court. “Since, according to the applicant, the statements in question made by the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh were made in the Legislature/Legislative Assembly of the State of Uttar Pradesh, the Chief Minister is granted immunity for the aforesaid statements under Article 194 of the Constitution. Therefore, no proceedings with regard to the statements made by him in the Legislature shall be maintainable before this Court.” The complaint filed by former IPS officer and presently Azad Adhikar Sena National President, Amitabh Thakur claimed that CM Adityanath's remark had spread hostility and hatred among different sections of society on the basis of caste, religion, place of birth, residence, language, and community, and the same was adversely affecting the maintenance of harmony among them. As per the complaint, CM had made the following remark in the Legislative Assembly: “समाजवादियों का चरित्र दोहरा हो चुका है, ये अपने बच्चों को पढ़ाएंगे इंग्लिश स्कूल में और दूसरों के बच्चों के लिए कहेंगे उर्दू पढ़ाओ... उनको मौलवी बनाना चाहते हैं, 'कठमुल्लापन' की ओर देश को ले जाना चाहते हैं, ये नहीं चल सकता है…” [Translation : The character of the Samajadwadis has become two-faced, they will send their own children to English-medium schools but tell others to teach their children Urdu... they want to turn them into maulvis, want to lead the country towards 'Kathmullapan'; this cannot be allowed to happen…] In his complaint, Thakur claimed that CM's statements had hurt the religious sentiments of the Muslim community and defamed them. However, hearing the said complaint, the Court referred to Section 356 Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita, 2023 [Defamation], read with Section 222 in Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 [Prosecution for defamation], to note that the court can take cognizance of an offence for Defamation only upon a complaint made by some person aggrieved by the offence. Against this backdrop, the Court concluded that Thakur doesn't qualify as an aggrieved person to be able to maintain a complaint against Adityanath. Furthermore, referring to Subsections (2) and (4) of Section 222, the Court noted that if a defamation offence is alleged against high officials, including a Minister, a complaint can only be filed with the government's prior sanction through a public prosecutor. Thus, the Court further concluded that since Thakur had not fulfilled this legal requirement, the complaint against CM Adityanath was not maintainable. Thus, the defamation complaint was dismissed.

Lucknow Court Dismisses Defamation Complaint Filed Against CM Yogi Adityanath Over 'Kathmullapan' Remark

Sparsh Upadhyay

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