SC says Azam Khan’s remarks on Bulandshahr gang rape objectionable

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court took on Monday strong exception to Samajwadi Party leader and senior Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan’s remarks that the Bulandshahr

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court took on Monday strong exception to Samajwadi Party leader and senior Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan’s remarks that the Bulandshahr gangrape was a political conspiracy against the state government.

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The top court asked Khan to respond to a petition seeking criminal proceedings for his statement.

“Why people in power and authority make statements that shake the faith of a victim in the justice delivery system?” wondered a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra.

Khan made his remark after suspected highway robbers stopped a family travelling in a car on the outskirts of Bulandshahr in western UP on the night of July 29, tied up the men, and raped a 45-year-old woman and her 14-year-old daughter in a nearby field. They took away gold jewellery and cash of the family from Ghaziabad.

Six members of the family were travelling from Noida to Shahjahanpur on national highway 91 when they were waylaid.

The court, which asked senior advocate Fali S Nariman to assist it, will determine whether such a statement can be a part of freedom of speech and expression.

The court framed constitutional questions, asking if a person holding public office can make a remark that may create distrust in the minds of victims about a fair probe.

Nariman will address whether such comments defeat the concept of constitutional compassion and sensitivity.

The court issued a notice to the UP government on the petition filed by the Bulandshahr rape survivors’ husband and father to transfer the case to New Delhi. The case would be heard on September 27.

The Allahabad high court ordered a court-monitored CBI probe, but the petitioner moved the Supreme Court, saying he has no faith in the state machinery, especially in the wake of Khan’s statement.

His petition also says Khan should be charged as his statement “substantially outrages” the “modesty” of the rape survivors and their family.

The state, including senior police officers, should pay appropriate damages to the survivors since they failed to reach them for assistance, despite several distress calls to a helpline.