2014 inflammatory speech : Allahabad HC’s Lko bench rejects Delhi CM’s discharge application

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has rejected Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s revision application seeking discharge in a case related with inflammatory speech in Sultanpur district during campaigning for 2014 Lok Sabha polls

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has rejected Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s revision application seeking discharge in a case related with inflammatory speech in Sultanpur district during campaigning for 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

A single judge bench of Justice Rajesh Singh Chauhan on Tuesday upheld the order passed by the Sultanpur sessions court on October 21, 2022 that rejected the Delhi CM’s discharge application in the case. (For Representation)

A single judge bench of Justice Rajesh Singh Chauhan on Tuesday upheld the order passed by the Sultanpur sessions court on October 21, 2022 that rejected the Delhi CM’s discharge application in the case.

An FIR was filed by a team of the Election Commission at Musafirkhana police station, Sultanpur, in 2014 under section 125 of the Representation of the People Act which is related with promoting enmity between classes in connection with election.

Kejriwal’s application for discharge from the case was rejected by the court of additional chief judicial magistrate on August 04, 2022. The revision application challenging this order was rejected by the sessions court of Sultanpur on October 21, 2022.

“The statement so given by the applicant is not so plain and simple in as much as for one set of voters. He is uttering the term ‘Gaddar of the country’ and for the other set of voters he is saying that ‘Khuda’ shall not pardon them,” said the court.

“Prima facie it appears that he (Delhi CM) is threatening the later voters in the name of ‘Khuda’ knowing fully well that if he uses the term ‘Khuda’ some set to voters belonging to different religion might have been severely been influenced,” said the court.

Additional government advocate Alok Saran, who represented the state government, opposed the application contending that the charge against the Delhi CM could be proved or disapproved only before the trial court and no interference was required by the high court.