Former SC judge Katju booked for sedition for comments on Bihar

PATNA: As the row over his remarks on Bihar raged on, former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju has been booked on sedition charge following a complaint by a JD(U) MLC against his online post that Kashmir should be offered to Pakistan on the condition that it takes Bihar too.

Markandey Katju. — File photo

Patna, September 28

As the row over his remarks on Bihar raged on, former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju has been booked on sedition charge following a complaint by a JD(U) MLC against his online post that Kashmir should be offered to Pakistan on the condition that it takes Bihar too.

Another complaint was also filed today in the district court against Katju, who hit back at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for his critical remarks and churned out more taunting posts.

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Katju has been booked under 124-A (sedition) and other sections of IPC, according to SHO of Shashtrinagar police station Birendra Prasad.

JD(U) MLC and its state spokesman Neeraj Kumar had last evening lodged a complaint in the police station here against Katju seeking his prosecution for alleged sedition.

Meanwhile, lawyer, Arvind Kumar, filed a petition in the court of Patna Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Om Prakash against Katju.

The complaint sought registration of a case under Sections 124 (A) (sedition), 500 (Punishment for defamation), 501 (Printing or engraving matter known to be defamatory and 505 (Statements conducting to public mischief) of IPC.

The date for hearing the plea is yet to be decided.

Katju's comments on Facebook about Bihar have drawn sharp criticism here.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had ridiculed him for trying to become 'Mai-Baap' (guardian) of the state.

His comments had also invited the wrath of Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Prasad Yadav, former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and JD(U) leaders K C Tyagi and Shyam Rajak among others.

Though Katju had sought to backtrack yesterday after a barrage of protests by writing on his Facebook account "I was only joking about Bihar" but today he again continued with his jibes on the social media.

"I suggest Biharis should take their complaint against me to the UN.

"When 'cheer haran' of Draupadi was being done, she appealed to Lord Krishna to save her honour," Katju wrote on his Facebook post today.

"Nitish Kumar says that I regard myself as the 'mai baap' of Bihar. No Nitishji, I am not the 'mai baap' of Biharis but their Shakuni Mama," he wrote in another post. — PTI