On September 10, 2015, Justice Suresh Kait of Delhi High Court quashed an FIR and summons issued against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray for alleged hate speeches against people of Bihar. The court held that there was no sanction from the government to prosecute Raj Thackeray for the said FIR.
The complainant had said that Thackeray’s comments were “against national integration as the Indian Constitution has given all citizens the right to live anywhere in the country”.
Thackeray had moved the high court against the summons issued on October 7, 2014, saying no prior sanction for prosecution from the central or state government was taken before the magistrate took cognizance of the offence of promoting enmity between different groups against him.
It is pertinent to mention that offence of promoting enmity between different groups is punishable under Section 153-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). However, Section 196(1) of Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.P.C.) lays down that no court shall take cognizance of an offence under Section 153-A of IPC except with the previous sanction of the Central Government or of the State Government. The relevant extract of this section is reproduced below:
“196. Prosecution for offences against the State and for criminal conspiracy to commit such offence.— (1) No Court shall take cognizance of—
(a) any offence punishable under Chapter VI or under Section 153-A, Section 295-A or sub-section (1) of Section 505 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (45 of 1860), or
(b) a criminal conspiracy to commit such offence, or
(c) any such abetment, as is described in Section 108-A of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860),
except with the previous sanction of the Central Government or of the State Government.”
In the case of Raj Thackeray, no such sanction had been taken, thereby the cognizance of the said offence could not have been taken by the court.
It may be noted that various other complaints had also been filed in the courts of Bihar and Jharkhand against Raj Thackeray’s hate speeches he made on different occasions. The Supreme Court had transferred all the cases against Thackeray for hate speeches to a Delhi court. [With inputs from IANS.]
