The Supreme Court, on Thursday 12th May asked for the establishment of peace and love between the communities whilst hearing the bail plea filed by Jitendra Tyagi alias Waseem Rizvi (Jitendra Narayan Tyagi alias Wasim Rizvi v/s The State Of Uttarakhand).
Jitendra Tyagi was arrested after connections were found, during the investigation, with hate speech at the Dharma Sansad which was held in December 2021.
The Bench of Judges, which consisted of Justice Ajay Rastogi and Justice Vikram Nath mentioned that these speeches spoil the atmosphere and urged people to live together harmoniously, asking to ‘stay together peacefully, enjoy life.’
Tyagi is a former chairperson of Shia Waqf Board, who recently converted to Hinduism. He was arrested by Uttrakhand Police in January 2022 because of inflammatory speech made at the Haridwar Dharma Sansad in December 2021. He approached the Supreme Court after The Uttarakhand High Court rejected his bail plea in March of 2022.
The court sought to know what the meaning of ‘Dharam Sansad’ was. Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra, who is appearing for Tyagi asked for the nation to be sensitized first, to which the court replied that such speakers have to be sensitized first so that they don’t spoil the atmosphere.
The Bench also sought to know what the maximum punishment was in this case filed against Tyagi. The counsel appearing for the Uttarakhand stated that the maximum sentence should be 5 years as the speeches were given at a religious place.
Advocate Luthra asked for a 3-year term. The bench agreed to this on the ground that Dharam Sansad is not a religious place.
Bench inquired if a further investigation would be needed as the charge sheet in the case had already been filed.
After finishing the hearing of the matter, the bench issued a notice to the state of Uttarakhand and sought a reply with details of the whole matter, including the period of punishment and further steps that the state proposed to take. The case is sought to be heard again on May 17.
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