Gauhati High Court Overturns Magistrate's Order on Hate Speech FIR Against Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma
The Gauhati High Court has recently revoked a lower court's directive to initiate a First Information Report (FIR) concerning hate speech allegations against Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, the Chief Minister of Assam. The controversy arose from statements attributed to Sarma regarding the violence following the Sipajhar eviction drive in September 2021.
Reportedly, during a speech delivered in the Morigaon district subsequent to the eviction operation, Sarma was accused of characterizing the violence as an act of retaliation. Justice Ajit Borthakur of the Gauhati High Court, on August 3, asserted that the Magistrate's order for FIR registration appeared rushed and failed to consider key parties' perspectives, including the Chief Minister and previously involved police officers who concluded that no prosecutable offense had been committed.
The High Court emphasized that the language used by the Chief Minister in question should not be construed as 'communally inflammatory.' It highlighted that the entire text of the speech lacked elements that could be construed as promoting communal discord and criminal conduct.
Justice Borthakur asserted that the Magistrate's judgment was flawed, as it was based on an insufficient evaluation of the allegations against the Chief Minister. The High Court clarified that petitions under Section 156(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code, which empowers Magistrates to order investigations into cognizable offenses, do not necessarily mandate the police to file an FIR.
Furthermore, the High Court underscored that a careful examination of the complaint revealed no actionable offense by the Chief Minister that warranted police registration of a criminal case. The complaint reportedly contained convoluted and overlapping accounts of events, failing to establish any clear basis for mandatorily registering an FIR.
Representing the Assam government, Advocate General Devajit Saikia and Public Prosecutor M Phukan appeared before the High Court. Advocate S Nawaz represented the complainant, MP Abdul Khaleque, while Advocate Padmini Baruah represented Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma.
In the previous year, a magistrate court in Gauhati had instructed the police to initiate criminal proceedings against Sarma based on allegedly inflammatory statements he made in a 2021 speech. In response, both the Assam government and the Guwahati Police challenged the magistrate court's decision in the Gauhati High Court.
In a significant development, Kamrup Metro district Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate B Baruah had mandated the police to register an FIR regarding Sarma's speech in December 2021. The order followed a complaint lodged by Abdul Khaleque, a Member of Parliament from Assam, who contended that the Chief Minister's remarks aimed to disrupt the fragile communal harmony in the State.
Khaleque had demanded the registration of an FIR against Sarma under Sections 153 (provocation with intent to cause riot) and 153A (promoting enmity between groups) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The incident in question involved fatal police shootings and injuries sustained during clashes in the Gorukhuti area as part of the Sipajhar eviction drive in September 2021.
The Gauhati High Court, on October 7, directed the State of Assam to submit a comprehensive affidavit concerning the incident, prompted by a disturbing viral video depicting a man brutally assaulting a deceased individual.
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