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Yogi hate speech case: Allahabad HC quashes plea seeking CBI probe

The Allahabad High Court division bench of, led by Justices Krishna Murari and AC Sharma, on Thursday dismissed a plea…

Yogi hate speech case: Allahabad HC quashes plea seeking CBI probe

Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath (Photo: SNS)

The Allahabad High Court division bench of, led by Justices Krishna Murari and AC Sharma, on Thursday dismissed a plea seeking CBI investigation into Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s alleged hate speech during the 2007 Gorakhpur riots.

The division bench dismissed the plea saying it had found no discrepancies in the police investigation or the state government’s refusal to prosecute the CM.

In 2008, an FIR was lodged by Parvez Parwaz and Asad Hayat at Cantonment police station in Gorakhpur in which they accused Adityanath, then city mayor Anju Chaudhri, then MLA Radha Mohan Agarwal and one more person of inciting communal violence.

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The petition submitted to the court called for a CBI probe under Sections 302, 307, 153A, 395 and 295 of the Indian Penal Code, which mainly pertains to murder and rioting. Petitioners had requested the court to order investigation by an independent agency into the case against Adityanath and three others.

In May 2017, shortly after Adityanath took over the reins of the state, his government had told the Allahabad High Court that he cannot be prosecuted in another case for allegedly making a hate speech that was said to have triggered communal riots in Gorakhpur in 2007.

The case was probed by the CB-CID of the state police and in 2013 inferred that the voice samples from the speech in question were indeed of Yogi Adityanath.

The agency had filed the charge sheet but the then Akhilesh Yadav government had not given the go ahead to prosecute Adityanath then.

The CB-CID in its affidavit in 2017 had said that since the case included sections 153 and 295 of the IPC, a green signal from the state government to frame charges was a must.

The government refused to grant the mandatory sanction for his prosecution. As per law, the sanction to prosecute under Section 153A of Indian Penal Code (inciting communal violence) is granted by the state government.

Adityanath, who was then the local MP, made the alleged hate speech following the killing of a Hindu youth in a clash between two groups during a Moharram procession. He was arrested and spent 10 days in jail before being enlarged on bail.

Also read | Bill allowing withdrawal of cases, including against CM Yogi,

 

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