N 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.
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here.