New Delhi, Feb 3 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned the Uttar Pradesh government as to why appropriate provisions of the Indian Penal Code were not invoked in an FIR lodged in an alleged hate crime in Noida in 2021.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta was told by Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj, who appeared for Uttar Pradesh, that they have initiated an inquiry against the concerned investigating officer.
“Does that solve the problem of non-registration of the case for the appropriate provisions?” the bench asked.
The top court was hearing a plea seeking a fair investigation and trial on a complaint by a senior citizen who claimed that he was abused and tortured in an alleged hate crime in Noida in July 2021.
Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for the petitioner, said the FIR ought to have been registered for the offences punishable under sections 153-B and 295-A of the IPC.
While section 153-B deals with offence of imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration, section 295-A pertains to deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.
Ahmadi also referred to section 298 of the IPC which deals with offence of uttering words, etc, with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings.
He said such incidents were happening and it was not good for national integration.
“Let us not give it that colour,” the bench observed.
“It is an individual incident before us for which you have come to this court. We have entertained your writ petition and we expect the government to take action. Let it remain at that,” it said.
At the outset, Nataraj told the bench that the plea relates to alleged hate crime and trial in the case was going on.
Ahmadi said there is a refusal to lodge an FIR for the offences under the IPC which relates to hate crime.
“I am showing a pattern of a reluctance on the part of the state authorities to take cognisance of the fact that this kind of a thing has actually happened,” he said.
The bench said it has already reserved its order on a batch of pleas raising the issue of hate speeches.
“Why did you not register offences for the allegations which were made out?” the bench asked Nataraj.
The law officer said it was the fault of the concerned investigating officer and an inquiry has been initiated.
“Initiating an inquiry is not the answer to the question as to why the offences were not registered,” the bench said.
It said unless the case was registered under the appropriate provisions and an investigation was done whether the offences were made out or not, how the case would proceed.
Nataraj said a chargesheet in the case was filed for various offences on the basis of the materials.
“Be little objective. You may refuse sanction, that is a different thing. But can you refuse registration of an FIR?” the bench said.
When the law officer said the FIR should have been registered under the appropriate provisions, the bench said, “Give a direction right now”.
The top court also referred to sanction under section 196 of the CrPC, which deals with prosecution for offences against the state and for criminal conspiracy to commit such offence.
The bench granted one week to the law officer to seek instructions and posted the matter for hearing on February 13.
The plea has also sought initiation of appropriate departmental or punitive proceedings against some police officers of Gautam Buddh Nagar district for allegedly failing to comply with the preventive and remedial measures as directed by the apex court in one of its earlier verdicts.
The petitioner claimed in his plea that he was a victim of a “dastardly hate crime” in Noida where he was “abused, tortured and systematically stripped of his dignity” by a group of individuals on July 4, 2021.
Detailing the incident, the petitioner has said he was attacked and derogatory words related to his “religious identity” were hurled at him.
The plea claimed that the petitioner was attacked because of “his beard and ostensible Muslim identity”. PTI ABA ABA KVK KVK
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