UP govt initiates process to withdraw cases against BJP MLA Sangeet Som

The UP government has begun the process of withdrawing four cases against BJP legislator Sangeet Som, including those related to 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots.

The government has sought details from Additional District Magistrate Amit Singh on the four cases registered in Muzaffarnagar, he said.

The four cases include one related to a fake but inflammatory video uploaded on social media in which he was given a clean chit by the Special Investigation Team probing the riots.

In April 2017, the investigating officer of the case filed a final report in a court, saying no evidence was found against the MLA from Sardhana constituency.

The SIT, through the Central Bureau of Investigation, had sought a report from US-based Facebook, Inc on the video that incited communal passions in Muzaffarnagar district in 2013.

But Facebook failed to provide details on the people who uploaded or liked the video, saying they maintain records for one year only, the SIT had said in its final report.

Som and more than 200 others who had "liked" the video were booked under various sections of the IPC and section 66 of the Information Technology Act on September 2, 2013.

Section 66 of the IT Act criminalises sending of offensive messages through a computer or other communication devices.

The video, showing the killing of a youth, had triggered communal riots in Muzaffarnagar in which more than 60 people died and 40,000 were displaced.

But the video was found to be around two year old and shot in Afghanistan or Pakistan.