SC tells 'Dharma Sansad' hate speech accused to surrender

New Delhi, August 29

The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday refused to extend the medical bail granted to Haridwar Dharma Sansad hate speech case accused Jitendra Narayan Tyagi (formerly known as Wasim Rizvi).

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A Bench led by Justice Ajay Rastogi, which had on May 17 granted three-month interim bail to Tyagi, asked him to surrender by September 2 and said his plea for grant of the regular bail will be heard on September 9.

“There is no reason to give him relief. So many cases are pending against him. Ask him to surrender,” the Bench told Tyagi’s counsel.

While granting him interim bail in May, the top court had directed Tyagi to give an undertaking that he would not indulge in hate speech and would not give any statements on electronic, digital or social media.

Tyagi had moved the Supreme Court after the Uttarakhand High Court dismissed his bail plea around two months ago.

The case against Tyagi and others was registered on a complaint of Nadeem Ali, a resident of Jwalapur Haridwar, in Haridwar on January 2, 2022. Ali alleged that the Dharma Sansad was organised in Haridwar by Hindu sages from December 17 to 19 and in the garb of this event, the participants were instigated to wage a war against Muslims.

Objectionable words were used against the Quran and Prophet Mohammad, Ali alleged in his complaint, adding these provocative statements went viral on social media. These videos were circulated by Tyagi, Yati Narsinghanand, and others, he had alleged.

Narsindhanand Giri, Sagar Sindhu Maharaj, Dharamdas Maharaj, Parmanand Maharaj, Sadhvi Annapurna, Swami Anand Swaroop, Aswani Upadhyay, Suresh Chavan, along with Swami Prabodhanand Giri and Jitendra Narayan were booked under Sections 153A, 295 and other relevant Sections of the IPC for allegedly delivering hate speeches in the name of religion at the conclave.