During the hearing of a pleas by Nupur Sharma to transfer all FIRs filed against her to Delhi, the Supreme Court came down heavily on the suspended BJP leader over her controversial comments on the Prophet Muhammad.
The court refused to hear her petition, which led Ms. Sharma’s lawyers to withdraw the petition.
‘We saw the debate on how she was incited. But the way she said all this and later says she was a lawyer it is shameful. She should apologise to the whole country,’ said Justice Surya Kant.
Ms. Sharma’s lawyer, Maninder Singh, said the FIR against Ms. Sharma was first filed by the Delhi Police, after she made the controversial comments on a TV channel.
The Supreme Court also came down heavily on perceived inaction against people linked to the big controversy over Ms. Sharma’s comments and questioned the Delhi Police’s handling of the case.
‘What has Delhi police done? Don’t make us open our mouth. What was the TV debate about? Only to fan an agenda? Why did they choose a sub-judice topic? What if she is the spokesperson of a party? She thinks she has back-up of power and can make any statement without respect to the law of the land?’ the Supreme Court asked, according to news agency reports.
Her lawyer replied, ‘There was a question by the anchor to which she responded.’
‘There should have been a case against the host (anchor) then,’ Justice Kant replied.
‘…When you file FIRs (First Information Reports) against others they are immediately arrested but when it’s against you nobody has dared to touch you,’ Justice Surya Kant added.
Ms. Sharma’s lawyer told the court that Ms. Sharma has been getting threats, which makes travel unsafe now.
To this, Justice Surya Kant replied ‘She faces threats or she has become security threat? This lady is single-handedly responsible for what is happening in the country’
Ms. Sharma’s comments had invited criticism from the Gulf bloc and also saw protests and violence breaking out across states. Tensions came to a boil when a tailor in Rajasthan’s Udaipur was murdered by two men on camera, in connection with the controversy.
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