SC notice to Uttar Pradesh government on sanction to prosecute Yogi Adityanath

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday sought response from Uttar Pradesh government on a plea challenging an order of Allahabad High Court order which had dismissed a petition seeking prosecution of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in a hate speech case of 2007.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud issued notice to the state government and the District Magistrate of Gorakhpur and posted the matter after four weeks for hearing.

Petitioner Rasheed Khan has challenged the high court order which had upheld the Uttar Pradesh government's refusal to grant sanction to prosecute Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Earlier this year, the Allahabad High Court had upheld a sessions court order which had quashed a magistrate's order taking cognizance of the chargesheet filed by the police in 2009.

The High Court had said that sessions court was right in holding that there was no prosecution sanction to initiate trial against the Chief Minister and others in the case.

In January 2017, the sessions court in Gorakhpur had quashed the magistrate court's cognisance order. The sessions court had said that there was no sanction to prosecute the accused, including Adityanath and others.

The Uttar Pradesh government had in May 2017 refused to grant the mandatory sanction for the prosecution of the Chief Minister.

Several incidents of violence were reported in Gorakhpur on January 27, 2007, after the alleged hate speech of Adityanath.