The Supreme Court will now hear on July 31, a petition filed by Professor Kham Khan Suan Hausing challenging the summons issued against him by a Manipur court over his remarks allegedly defaming the Meitei community.
The petition was to be heard today by a Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud.
However, as the CJI fell ill and could not attend the court today, the matter was listed for hearing on Monday.
Appearing for Prof Hausing, Senior Advocate Anand Grover sought urgent listing of the matter before the Bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia.
The counsel contended that the Chief Justice had listed the petition by the professor in Hyderabad from Manipur for hearing today.
He apprised the Bench that there was an identical matter, in which an order has been passed.
The Senior Advocate urged the Apex Court to either take up the matter today or keep it on Monday before the Chief Justice.
The top court of the country decided to list the matter for hearing on Monday before the CJI.
Professor Kham Khan Suan Hausing is currently serving as the Head of the Department for Political Science at the University of Hyderabad.
The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Imphal East had issued summons against him on July 6, 2023. He was accused of defaming the Meitei community during an interview with journalist Karan Thapar on ‘The Wire.’
A case was registered against Hausing under Sections 153A (promoting enmity on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, or language), 200 (knowingly declaring something false), 295(A) (deliberate acts to outrage religious feeling), 298 (verbally outraging religious feelings), 505(1), and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
One Manihar Moirangthem Singh, a member of the Meitei Tribe Union, had filed the complaint against Hausing, accusing the Professor of making false statements to defame the Meitei community, leading to heightened communal enmity.
(Case title: Kham Khan Suan Hausing vs The State of Manipur and Ors)