Jantar Mantar hate speech: Bail plea of Hindu leader rejected
‘We are not Taliban State’, observes Delhi court while dismissing application of ‘Hindu Raksha Dal’ president
New Delhi, Aug. 24: A Delhi court has dismissed the anticipatory bail application of a Hindu organisation’s president who allegedly raised communal slogans, saying “we are not a Taliban State.”
Additional sessions judge Anil Antil dismissed the application of Bhupinder Tomar, the president of ‘Hindu Raksha Dal,’ and said that in the past such incidents have flared communal tensions leading to riots and loss to life and property.
Mr Tomar was accused of raising communal slogans and inciting the youth to propagate against a particular religion at a rally at Jantar Mantar on August 8.
“We are not a Taliban State. Rule of law is the sacrosanct governing principle in our plural and multi-cultural society. While the whole of India is celebrating ‘azadi ka amrut mahotsav,’ there are some minds still chained with intolerant and self-centric beliefs,” the judge said in the order passed on August 21.
The court said complicity of the accused in the case was “prima facie” apparent from the available evidence and the accusations against him were serious and severe in nature.
History is not immune where such incidents have fared communal tensions leading to riots and causing loss to life and property of the general public, the court order said.
The police had imposed the pre-arrest bail application, alleging that the accused used the platform at Jantar Mantar to create communal disharmony and to give communal colour to their plans and incited the youth to propagate against a particular religion despite the sanction to gather refused by the competent authority.
During the court proceedings, the judge had also played a video clip of an interview of the accused to a YouTube channel and observed that it was impregnated with high octane communal barbs laced with inflammatory, insulting, and threatening gestures.
He had said the interview was indicative of the calculative design on the part of the accused to promote hatred and ill will amongst other sections of the community.
He said that even though the right to freedom of speech is a fundamental right, one of the most cherished natural rights enshrined in the Constitution under Article 19(1)(a), it is not an unfettered right.
“It is not absolute. Neither can it be extended to transgress upon the fundamental rights of other people nor can it be expanded to the acts prejudicial to maintenance of peace, harmony, and public order and nor can it be permitted to invade and erode the secular fabric of our society,” he said.