Take note of hate speeches: Lawyers to CJI Ramana

New Delhi, December 27

Seventy-five lawyers and a former High Court judge have written to Supreme Court Chief Justice NV Ramana, requesting him to take suo motu notice of hate speeches allegedly made at events recently organised in Delhi and Haridwar.

The letter comes days after an FIR was filed against Jitender Narayan Tyagi (formerly Waseem Rizvi) following a complaint by Trinamool Congress leader and RTI activist Saket Gokhale who said the former chairman of the Shia Waqf Board and others had delivered “derogatory and inflammatory statements against Islam” at the event.

The letter, which has also been signed by former Patna HC judge Anjana Prakash, said the speeches “pose a grave threat not just to the unity and integrity of our country but also endanger the lives of millions of Muslim citizens.” “It is also pointed out that the speeches are a part of a series of similar speeches that we have come across in the past… Thus, urgent judicial intervention is required to prevent such events,” said the letter signed among others by Salman Khurshid, Dushyant Dave, Vrinda Grover and Meenakshi Arora. — TNS

Controversy over Haridwar, Delhi events

The letter of lawyers refers to two events — the ‘Dharma Sansad’ in Haridwar and a Hindu Yuva Vahini-organised event in Delhi — where the purported hate speeches were delivered. An FIR has been filed against Jitendra Narayan Tyagi and others regarding the event organised in Haridwar.