Indian Express: Mumbai: Sunday,
22 September 2024.
IN APRIL last year,
responding to a petition against alleged hate speech in rallies conducted by
Sakal Hindu Samaj (SHS) across Maharashtra, the state government had denied any
“lapse” on its part and had assured the Supreme Court that it was taking action
in these cases. It listed 25 FIRs registered in January-April 2023, including
16 related to Samaj rallies.
The affidavit filed by the state said that the DGP had “directed” all Commissioners and Superintendents of Police “to (suo motu) initiate action” as and when any such speech took place.
More than a year later, that assurance does not seem to have gone beyond those FIRs, according to information obtained by The Indian Express, including records accessed under the Right to Information Act.
These show that police are yet to file a chargesheet in at least 19 of the 25 cases, including all 16 linked to SHS. Reason: each of these “sensitive” cases is at various stages of a laborious process to obtain the state government’s sanction for prosecution. Eight of the 19 cases involve MLAs or public figures.
Sanction is mandatory under the sections invoked in these cases to file the chargesheet 153(A) and 295(A) related to communal enmity and insult in the IPC.
In the absence of a chargesheet, the legal process, including action against the accused or trial, is on pause.
Apart from the 16 FIRs linked to SHS rallies, the three FIRs awaiting prosecution sanction include two registered on caste-related charges and one for posting alleged derogatory content against Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on social media platforms.
Of the other six FIRs on the list of 25, sources said, chargesheets were filed in three cases where sanction was not required: two related to alleged comments against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and another on damage to a Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue.
Another FIR is related to a non-cognizable (NC) crime in which a chargesheet is not required to be filed. The contents of the remaining two FIRs are not known.
When contacted by The Indian Express for comment on these findings, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who holds the Home portfolio in the BJP-Sena-NCP government, said, “We will take decisions in accordance with the law.”
A senior officer from Maharashtra police said there was no pendency at their level and that if the required documents are not attached while sending proposals for prosecution sanction, they are pointed out to the officer concerned.
Of the 19 cases, four FIRs are still at the level of vetting by senior officers, the officers said.
The Indian Express contacted the investigating officers separately after RTI records revealed that overall in 2023, only 18 FIRs related to hate speech were sent for prosecution sanction to the state government and just one in 2024 so far.
Of these, RTI records show, only one proposal for sanction related to SHS rallies is with the Home Department from Kranti Nagar station in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar.
Asked about this discrepancy between RTI records and the investigating officers’ assertions that they had sent proposals for prosecution sanction in 19 cases, a senior Home official attributed this to the “bureaucratic process”.
The procedure for prosecution sanction in sensitive cases can take six-eight months from the registration of FIR, the official said.
According to the official, senior police officers vet these proposals while ensuring that the required paperwork is in place, and a committee goes through each complaint. If the committee is convinced that an offence is made out, the complaint is forwarded to the Home department for approval. After the final green light is received from the government, a chargesheet is filed and the case goes to trial.
“In several cases, police officers do not attach the proper documents so we have to send them back. In one case, for instance, we received an application for prosecution sanction for an FIR registered in 2014,” said the official from the Home department.
In cases of communal hate speech, the FIRs include section 153 (A) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc) and 295 (A) (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) under the IPC.
According to Section 196 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), the police have to seek permission from the Home Department before they can file a chargesheet in such sensitive cases.
Both IPC and CrPC were replaced by Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, respectively, this year 153 (A) IPC was replaced by 196 BNS and 295 (A) by 298 BNS. But there is no change in the requirement for prosecution sanction on these charges.
The Maharashtra government’s submission in the Supreme Court in April last year was related to a petition filed in February 2023 by Kerala-based multimedia journalist Shaheen Abdullah seeking directions to bar an SHS rally to be held in Mumbai citing alleged hate speeches at an earlier event conducted by the outfit.
The Supreme Court directed the state to ensure that hate speech is not delivered and an offence be registered in case of violation.
One month later, Abdullah approached the Supreme Court again through a contempt petition alleging that the government was not taking action and provided a list of 16 instances of alleged hate speech. It was in response to this plea that the Maharashtra government, while denying the allegations, submitted the list of 25 FIRs.
SHS is an umbrella organisation of pro-Hindutva outfits such as Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, Shiv Pratishthan and Sanatan Sanstha. It has been actively organising rallies in Maharashtra since November 2022.
The affidavit filed by the state said that the DGP had “directed” all Commissioners and Superintendents of Police “to (suo motu) initiate action” as and when any such speech took place.
More than a year later, that assurance does not seem to have gone beyond those FIRs, according to information obtained by The Indian Express, including records accessed under the Right to Information Act.
These show that police are yet to file a chargesheet in at least 19 of the 25 cases, including all 16 linked to SHS. Reason: each of these “sensitive” cases is at various stages of a laborious process to obtain the state government’s sanction for prosecution. Eight of the 19 cases involve MLAs or public figures.
Sanction is mandatory under the sections invoked in these cases to file the chargesheet 153(A) and 295(A) related to communal enmity and insult in the IPC.
In the absence of a chargesheet, the legal process, including action against the accused or trial, is on pause.
Apart from the 16 FIRs linked to SHS rallies, the three FIRs awaiting prosecution sanction include two registered on caste-related charges and one for posting alleged derogatory content against Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on social media platforms.
Of the other six FIRs on the list of 25, sources said, chargesheets were filed in three cases where sanction was not required: two related to alleged comments against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and another on damage to a Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue.
Another FIR is related to a non-cognizable (NC) crime in which a chargesheet is not required to be filed. The contents of the remaining two FIRs are not known.
When contacted by The Indian Express for comment on these findings, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who holds the Home portfolio in the BJP-Sena-NCP government, said, “We will take decisions in accordance with the law.”
A senior officer from Maharashtra police said there was no pendency at their level and that if the required documents are not attached while sending proposals for prosecution sanction, they are pointed out to the officer concerned.
Of the 19 cases, four FIRs are still at the level of vetting by senior officers, the officers said.
The Indian Express contacted the investigating officers separately after RTI records revealed that overall in 2023, only 18 FIRs related to hate speech were sent for prosecution sanction to the state government and just one in 2024 so far.
Of these, RTI records show, only one proposal for sanction related to SHS rallies is with the Home Department from Kranti Nagar station in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar.
Asked about this discrepancy between RTI records and the investigating officers’ assertions that they had sent proposals for prosecution sanction in 19 cases, a senior Home official attributed this to the “bureaucratic process”.
The procedure for prosecution sanction in sensitive cases can take six-eight months from the registration of FIR, the official said.
According to the official, senior police officers vet these proposals while ensuring that the required paperwork is in place, and a committee goes through each complaint. If the committee is convinced that an offence is made out, the complaint is forwarded to the Home department for approval. After the final green light is received from the government, a chargesheet is filed and the case goes to trial.
“In several cases, police officers do not attach the proper documents so we have to send them back. In one case, for instance, we received an application for prosecution sanction for an FIR registered in 2014,” said the official from the Home department.
In cases of communal hate speech, the FIRs include section 153 (A) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc) and 295 (A) (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) under the IPC.
According to Section 196 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), the police have to seek permission from the Home Department before they can file a chargesheet in such sensitive cases.
Both IPC and CrPC were replaced by Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, respectively, this year 153 (A) IPC was replaced by 196 BNS and 295 (A) by 298 BNS. But there is no change in the requirement for prosecution sanction on these charges.
The Maharashtra government’s submission in the Supreme Court in April last year was related to a petition filed in February 2023 by Kerala-based multimedia journalist Shaheen Abdullah seeking directions to bar an SHS rally to be held in Mumbai citing alleged hate speeches at an earlier event conducted by the outfit.
The Supreme Court directed the state to ensure that hate speech is not delivered and an offence be registered in case of violation.
One month later, Abdullah approached the Supreme Court again through a contempt petition alleging that the government was not taking action and provided a list of 16 instances of alleged hate speech. It was in response to this plea that the Maharashtra government, while denying the allegations, submitted the list of 25 FIRs.
SHS is an umbrella organisation of pro-Hindutva outfits such as Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, Shiv Pratishthan and Sanatan Sanstha. It has been actively organising rallies in Maharashtra since November 2022.
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