Court to decide today if criminal case be filed against Roy, Geelani
Pulling up the police for failing to submit proper status report on a complaint, Patiala House court metropolitan magistrate Navita Kumari Bagha is likely to decide on Saturday whether criminal proceedings can be initiated against hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and writer-activist Arundhati Roy on charge of sedition for their alleged anti-India statements.
The court, which was hearing a complaint filed on October 28 by Sushil Pandit seeking registration of an FIR against Roy and Geelani, reserved its order for Saturday.
Besides Geelani and Roy, the complaint sought prosecution of five others, including Delhi University professor S.A.R. Geelani, who was acquitted in Parliament attack case, and Sheikh Showkat Hussain, a professor of Jammu and Kashmir University. Advancing the arguments, advocate Vikas Padora, who represented Pandit, submitted before the court that the accused had crossed all the limits of freedom of expression and incited the people to rebellion against the Indian state by saying that Kashmir was never a part of India. Their conduct fell within the definition of offences described under the IPC and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
According to the complaint, the accused made the comments at a convention in October on “Azadi — The Only Way”. Hurriyat leader Geelani shared the dais with Roy and pro-Maoist leader Vara Vara Rao among others. Geelani was heckled by the audience. During the proceedings on Friday, the court said, “You (police) were not supposed to file reply on the complaint. You were asked to file the status report as to what action has been taken on complaint.”
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