The Supreme Court directed the police authorities on Wednesday to ensure that no hate speech or violence took place during the various marches being held by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal in different parts of the Delhi-National Capital Region today in protest against the recent incidents of communal violence in Nuh and Gurugram of Haryana.
The Bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice S.V. Bhatti, while hearing the urgent application in a special sitting at 2 pm today, directed the Delhi Police and the States of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to ensure that no untoward incident took place during the rallies.
The top court of the country further directed the authorities to make use of CCTV cameras or make video recordings in all sensitive areas wherever required. The authorities were further asked to preserve the CCTV footage and video recordings.
Mentioning the Supreme Court order of October 2022, which directed the police to register a suo motu FIR against hate speech crimes, the Bench directed the authorities to ensure compliance with the order.
Appearing for the petitioner, Senior Advocate Chander Singh apprised the Court that 23 marches have been announced by VHP and Bajrang Dal in various parts of the National Capital Region to protest against the happenings in Nuh.
The Apex Court asked the Counsel whether any hate speeches have been made, to which Singh replied in the affirmative.
Singh said that hate speeches were made in the rallies held in the Delhi-NCR this afternoon and more rallies were expected to be held in sensitive areas today.
The Bench then ordered Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S.V. Raju to get in touch with the authorities and ensure deployment of adequate police or paramilitary forces, so that there was no untoward incident.
The Apex Court further directed the state governments, including police authorities, to ensure that there were no hate speeches against any community and there was no violence or damage to properties.
The petition was filed by Shaheen Abdhullah as an interlocutory application in a writ petition also moved by him seeking directions to stop hate crimes.