New Delhi: Attorney General for India K.K. Venugopal has granted consent to an activist who had sought it to initiate contempt proceedings against militant Hindutva leader Yati Narsinghanand over his remarks against the Supreme Court and constitution.
Activist Shachi Nelli has posted a copy of the AG’s letter to her on Twitter, noting that she will be “proceeding accordingly.”
In a letter to the AG, Nelli had called Narsinghanand’s remarks in an interview to one Vishal Singh, “derogatory” to the constitution and the Supreme Court.
The letter states that Narsinghanand was asked of “court proceedings” in the hate speech case when he said, “We have no trust in the Supreme Court of India and the Constitution. The Constitution will consume the 100 crore Hindus of this country. Those who believe in this Constitution will be killed. Those who believe in this system, in these politicians, in the Supreme Court, and in the Army will all die the death of a dog.”
This above line was also quoted by the AG in his consent letter.
“I find the statement made by Yati Narsinghanand, that, ‘Those who believe in this system, in these politicians, in the Supreme Court, and in the Army will all die the death of a dog’ is a direct attempt to lower the authority of the Supreme Court in the minds of the general public. This would certainly amount to contempt of the Supreme Court of India,” Venugopal writes.
Venugopal has granted consent in terms of Section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, read with Rule 3(a) of the Rules to Regulate Proceedings for Contempt of the Supreme Court of India, 1975.
Nelli’s letter to Venugopal had noted that Narsinghanand’s comments were “trying to undermine the majesty of the institution and the authority vested in the Supreme Court of India.”
It calls the comments a vile and clear attempt at interfering in the course of justice by means of “abusive rhetoric and baseless attacks on the integrity” of the constitution and courts.
Narsinghanand is at present in police custody after having been arrested in Haridwar over his involvement in two separate cases.
The first, according to Uttarakhand police is in connection with a case pertaining to derogatory remarks against women.
The second case follows last month’s ‘Dharma Sansad’ organised by Narsinghanand at Haridwar, where a number of religious leaders made inflammatory speeches calling for violence against Muslims amounting to genocide.
As The Wire has reported, Narsinghanand had promised a bounty of Rs 1 crore to the ‘next Prabhakaran’ — a reference to the leader of the Tamil Tigers, officially classified as a terrorist in India, and led the congregation in an oath calling for the killing of those who were perceived to be enemies of his religion.
This story first appeared on thewire.in