Shaheen Bagh: Court seeks ATR on Brinda Karat's plea for FIR against Thakur, Verma

A Delhi court Wednesday directed the police to file action taken report (ATR) on a complaint by CPI (M) leader Brinda Karat seeking FIRs against Union minister Anurag Thakur and his BJP colleague and MP Parvesh Verma for their alleged hate speech in relation to anti-CAA protest at Shaheen Bagh.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vishal Pahuja directed the police to file the report by February 11, the next date of hearing.

"Thakur and Verma had sought to incite people as a result of which three incidents of firing took place at two different protest sites in Delhi," Karat told the court in here complaint.

"Let ATR be called from the DCP District New Delhi/DCP concerned," the court said.

The complaint has sought lodging of FIRs under various sections, including 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc.), 153-B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national-integration) and 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the IPC.

It also sought action under other sections of the IPC, including 298 (uttering, words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation).

If convicted, the accused may get a maximum jail term for seven years.

Karat approached the court after her written complaints to the Commissioner of Police and the SHO, Parliament Street, failed to elicit any response, she told the court.

She had written to the Commissioner on January 29 and subsequently on 31, while the letter to the SHO Parliament Street was sent on February 2, she said.

At the Rithala rally here, the Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs had on January 27 egged on the crowd to raise an incendiary slogan -- "shoot the traitors" -- after lashing out at anti-CAA protesters.

BJP MP Verma had on January 28 said what happened in Kashmir with Kashmiri Pandits could happen in Delhi, warning that lakhs of anti-CAA protesters in Shaheen Bagh could enter homes to kill and rape women.