Three retired armed force officers have moved the Supreme Court seeking a court-monitored probe by a special investigation team into the genocidal calls given against Muslims during a religious event organised at Haridwar and Delhi on December 17 and 19 last year.
The petitioners said that hate speeches have the potential to impact public order adversely. They also noted that incitement to violence together with public expressions of hate constitutes a severe breach of internal security and could also tear apart the social character of the nation.
Advocates Senthil Jagadeesan and Vinayak Bhandari appeared for the petitioners, major General SG Vombatkere, Colonel PK Nair and Major Priyadarshi Chowdhary.
A similar petition has also been filed by journalist Qurban Ali and Senior Advocate Anjana Prakash earlier in the Supreme Court. The bench, however, listed the matter as of May 09.
“We are highly decorated officers of the Army. The regiments and the troops they have controlled during their careers, those subordinate to them, are drawn from various and different communities. The petition is essentially directed against aspects of hate speech which were made between the 17th and 19th of December 2021. Apart from the Union of India, the two respondents are Uttarakhand and the Government of NCT”, read the petition.
Justice Khanwilka, while referring to the report filed by the Uttarakhand Government in the previous matter, asked the Counsel to go through the response of the said State to see if the issue still survives, as Sibal had raised something about Uttarakhand but had not pressed the issue.
The issue has survived, and we have given a translation of the speech along with the minutes etc., said Counsel Divan.
Yet, the court still directed that the copy of Uttarakhand’s response to the previous matter, and the Delhi Police Commissioner’s reply affidavit in the leading case, be made available to Counsel Divan, as it thinks that it is possible that the issues raised by the petitioners in the previous matter of events unfolded in the state of Uttarakhand may be similar to the issues raised in the present writ petition.
The petition contended that such hate speeches could even affect the battle efficiency of our Armed Forces and, in turn, compromise national security.
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