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Supreme Court Dismisses Against Clean Chit Given To Anurag Thakur, Parvesh Verma
The has formally dismissed a filed by leader Brinda Karat, challenging the court’s earlier decision that denied the registration of a against political leaders Anurag Thakur and Parvesh Verma.
Background of the Dispute
The legal saga stems from speeches delivered during the Delhi Assembly elections in
. Brinda Karat and KM Tiwari had sought criminal action against the duo, citing inflammatory remarks. Anurag Thakur, then a Union Minister, was accused of leading a call-and-response slogan,
"Desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro saalon ko"
(Shoot the traitors of the nation), during a rally in Rithala. Similarly, Parvesh Verma, a Member of Parliament, allegedly characterized Shaheen Bagh protesters as "infiltrators" who would
"enter houses and rape and kill people."
After local police refused to register a complaint, the petitioners moved a , which directed that under the was required. Following the 's affirmation of this view, the matter reached the .
Legal Trajectory and Arguments
On , the Supreme Court partly allowed the plea by ruling that is not mandatory at the for a to order an investigation. However, in a significant pivot, the bench independently reviewed the controversial speeches and concluded that they did not disclose any .
The petitioner, dissatisfied with this outcome, filed a and an application for an . They argued that the Court’s assessment of the speeches warranted a deeper, full-bench reconsideration.
Key Observations from the Court
The bench, comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta, decided the matter in chambers. In its order dated , the Court reiterated its stance, stating:
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"Application for listing the present in open court is rejected."
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"We have gone through the as well as the grounds in support thereof."
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"We do not find any error, much less apparent, in the , warranting its reconsideration."
Judicial Finality
With the dismissal of the , the legal challenge brought by the petitioners against the clean chit granted to the two political figures has reached its final conclusion. The Court maintained that its original findings remained sound, effectively closing the doors on further litigation regarding the registration of an FIR for these specific campaign statements. This ruling reinforces the threshold for establishing cognisable offences in cases involving public figures and political rhetoric.
