Supreme Court Directs Uttarakhand Govt To Prevent Hate Speeches At Roorkee Dharam Sansad

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Uttarakhand Government to take measures to prevent hate speeches in Dharam Sansad which has been planned at Roorkee tomorrow."You will have to take immediate action. Don't make us say something. There are other ways of preventive action. You know how to do it!", Justice Khanwilkar told the Deputy Advocate General of the State of Uttarakhand Jatinder Kumar Sethi.A bench comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar, Abhay Sreeniwas Oka and CT Ravikumar was hearing an application filed by journalist Qurban Ali and Senior Advocate Anjana Prakash (former judge of Patna HC) seeking criminal action against alleged hate speeches made during Dharam Sansad meets.Reminding the counsel of the Uttarakhand Government about the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in the Tehseen Poonawalla case regarding preventive measures, the bench warned that it will hold the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary and other concerned officials if hate speech instances occur in the Dharam Sansad event."What we see is something different on ground. Despite the repeated pronouncement of this court, there is the Poonawala judgment and subsequent judgment enlarging the precautionary measures to be taken and corrective measures to be taken, yet things are happening", Justice Khanwilkar said.Read the full Courtroom Exchange Here"Your Original petition was for Delhi and Uttarakhand. And now this IA is for HP?", Justice Khanwilkar asked Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, who has moved a fresh application with respect to the Dharam Sansad event held in Himachal Pradesh a week ago.Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal: "They Are holding dharm sansad at every other place from time to time. This was held in Una, Himachal Pradesh. This is very shocking. I will not even read it publicly"Mr. Sibal: "We had originally filed this IA to stop the Dharma Sansad. The Court said you report the matter to the collector and the SP. The Collector and the SP have done nothing and this is what has happened"Justice Khanwilkar: "Today, what are you asking for?"Mr. Sibal: "The gentleman who is speaking in the Dharam Sansad. Please read the transcript of his speech, I will not read it…"Justice Khanwilkar: "We have read it. In those earlier decisions of this Court, Tehseen Poonawalla and the other one, which have considered preventive action. Those guidelines are already there"Mr. Sibal: "The SP and the Collector do nothing"Justice Khanwilkar to the counsel for the State of HP: "You have to follow the guidelines already in place. Are you following them or not, you have to answer? If not, then you have to take corrective measures"Counsel for Himachal Pradesh: "We have taken preventive measures. Then we have undertaken investigation"Justice Khanwilkar: "You have to stop activity, and not just do investigation. File an affidavit disclosing what steps you have taken to prevent it and thereafter"Counsel for Himachal Pradesh: "We have issued notice under the Section 64 of Himachal Pradesh Police act to ensure there is no such issue. Subsequent to this, a representation was received and we took action…"Justice Khanwilkar: "These incidents don't happen suddenly. They are announced well in advance. The local police has to get into action immediately. You file an affidavit explaining those steps. Did you spring into action immediately or not?"Mr. Sibal: "We know they haven't arrested them…"Justice Khanwilkar: "Let him explain that on affidavit"Mr. Sibal: "Now as regards the other IA, another Dharam Sansad is to be held in Roorkee in Uttarakhand"Justice Khanwilkar: "If that announcement has been made, they have to take action. The counsel for Uttarakhand was appearing earlier"Dy AG of Uttarakhand: "Your lordships passed an order earlier taking into account our status report noting that we have already taken action"Justice Khanwilkar: "He (Mr. Sibal) is informing you, perhaps it is not known to you, that next there will be another function of the same type. Don't explain it to us, you have to act as per the guidelines already in place"Dy AG of Uttarakhand: "Our past contact has been that as and when the situation arises, we register an FIR irrespective of which community the person is from…"Bench: "We are on preventive measures"Dy AG of Uttarakhand: "We lodged FIRs against community 'A' and community 'B'. Chargesheets have been filed…"Justice Khanwilkar: "FIRs are only after incident, not before the incident"Dy AG of Uttarakhand : "As Regards preventive measures, there is a difficulty. A person says he will hold Dharam Sansad, we don't know the text of what he will be saying…"Justice Khanwilkar: "If the speaker is going to be the same, you will have to take immediate action. Don't make us say something. There are other ways of preventive action. You know how to do it!"Dy AG of Uttarakhand: "We are also trying to persuade them to not hold these events. That is a different channel on which we are operating that if they don't hold, it is better. We are aware of our...

Supreme Court Directs Uttarakhand Govt To Prevent Hate Speeches At Roorkee Dharam Sansad

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