Hate speech during Jat stir: Rohtak court says police left lacunae intentionally

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 25

A Rohtak court has lambasted the Haryana Police and the prosecution agency for shoddy work that led to the acquittal of Manoj Duhan, a Rohtak-based lawyer, in a hate speech case registered in the wake of the Jat quota violence. The court said the lacunae in the investigation were left “intentionally”.

Duhan is also an accused in the case relating to violence and arson at the residence of Finance Minister Captain Abhimanyu in Rohtak, which the CBI is pursuing.

As per the police, Duhan had delivered a public speech on February 15, 2016, to people blocking the national highway near the Eastern bypass chowk at Sampla in which he had said that those belonging to the “Khattar, Miglani, Arora and Sindhwani” castes should be sent back to Pakistan. The police had also alleged that Duhan had said that if the Jat community was not given reservation, they would set Rohtak’s Kila road market on fire.

The Jat quota stir, which started from Sampla in Rohtak, later spread to other districts into large-scale violence. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has been monitoring all cases registered during the stir.

In the judgment delivered on May 16 in the hate speech case, Judicial Magistrate First Class Bharat said, “I feel no hesitation in saying that the investigating agency (Haryana Police) and the prosecution agency have failed to perform their duty. It appears that the investigating agency has left the lacunae intentionally, which has ultimately resulted in complete failure of the prosecution in the present case.”

During the trial against Duhan, both complainant Constable Yogender and investigating officer ASI Satbir Singh contradicted each other. Constable Yogender told the court he didn’t file any complaint and neither identified the writing in the complaint. On the other hand, ASI Satbir said the constable had registered a complaint on February 29, 2016, and had also submitted a CD containing a video showing Duhan making a hate speech.

The court observed that the prosecution had failed to prove the contents of the CD and it was not exhibited at the time of showing evidence in court.

The mobile phone of Duhan was intercepted but no voice samples were taken. The court said it was the duty of the prosecution to provide assistance to the court. However, the application for taking voice samples of the accused “was not pressed by the prosecution agency during the course of trial”.

No independent witness was joined, no sanction of state or Central governments was taken for the offence punishable under Section 153A (hate speech), 153B (for imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 505 (statements conducting to public mischief) of the IPC, as required and no complaint was filed by public servant for the offence punishable under Section 188 (disobedience to order promulgated by public servant) of the IPC, said the court.

The court observed, “In the alleged incident of Jat agitation in February 2016, loss of life and public and government property had taken place and lot of people had remained in jail for the same. The fraternity and the spirit of brotherhood in society was ruined in the alleged incident. In the wake of the incident, the society stands divided on the basis of caste, which is against the constitutional spirit.”

It said, “In the whole process, the role of the investigating agency was very much crucial to apprehend the actual culprits and save the life of the remaining people.”

“The court has ordered sending the copy of the judgment to the Haryana Home Secretary, Director General of Police, and the Rohtak SP for “information and necessary compliance,” it said.

The 2016 case

As per the police, Manoj Duhan, a Rohtak-based lawyer, had delivered a public speech on February 15, 2016, to people blocking the national highway near the Eastern bypass chowk at Sampla in which he had had said that those belonging to the “Khattar, Miglani, Arora and Sindhwani” castes should be sent back to Pakistan. The police had also alleged that Duhan had said that if the Jat community was not given reservation, they would set Rohtak’s Kila road market on fire.