The Supreme Court has today ordered that no coercive action can be taken against Times Now news anchor Navika Kumar with regards to cases registered against her for a show in which former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma made derogatory remarks against Prophet Muhammad.
The Bench comprising of Justice Krishna Murari and Justice Hima Kohli gave the order and have said that the State of West Bengal and others in the case, which will be heard after two weeks.
For the scribe, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi submitted that,
“...anchor said nothing. Debate was about Gyanvapi Mosque and suddenly one said something and then another retorted. Ms Kumar doused the fire.”
Advocate Rohtagi also questioned the court for the “extra interest” of the West Bengal government, as it was the first to register a case against Navika.
When Mukul Rohatgi asked for a stay on the proceedings against Kumar, Justice Kohli said, “Let the other respondents also appear. As of now this should serve your purpose.”
Kumar, who has been booked in Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir, moved the apex court seeking quashing of the cases or clubbing of the same and transfer to one state.
The Controversial remarks by Nupur Sharma on the Times Now debate has created a furore and even led to summoning of many senior diplomats by Islamic nations along with ambassadors and high commissioners.
The ruling BJP government immediately suspended Nupur Sharma for having create the situation and distanced itself from Sharma
Initially, the Supreme Court refused to entertain the plea by Nupur Sharma and made strong remarks against her. The Bench had remarked that Sharma was single-handedly responsible for fanning flames across India and that she should apologise to the whole nation.
While the hearing was on, the top court had also made strong remarks against Times Now.
The Apex Court had asked “What was the TV debate for? Only to fan an agenda? Why did they choose a sub judice topic?”
Sharma had then withdrawn her plea.