Harsh Mander is one of the petitioners who sought action against BJP leaders for hate speech
The appeal of activist Harsh Mander in the case involving hate speech by BJP leaders will not be heard unless the matter of his alleged comments against the judiciary is sorted, the Supreme Court said today.
Along with the victims of last week's Delhi violence, Harsh Mander has also filed a petition seeking action against BJP leaders for their hate speech in the run-up to the Delhi assembly elections.
There have been allegations that the hate speech had a role to play in the sudden violence that engulfed parts of Delhi last week, in which 48 people were killed and more than 200 injured.
"You made statements against the Supreme Court. We will not hear you now... If Harsh Mander feels (that) about the Supreme Court, then we will have decide on that first," Chief Justice of India SA Bobde said, referring to Mr Mander's speech during an anti-CAA protest in January, where he allegedly made derogatory comments against the top court.
Appearing for the government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta objected to the petition filed by Mr Mander. "Harsh Mander's speech says we have no faith in the Supreme Court and still we have to go. This is the speech at CAA protests," he said.
Dubbing the activist's speech "derogatory and instigating", the Solicitor General also pointed out that in the past, former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had struck off Harsh Mander's name as a petitioner in a case involving Assam detention centres.
At the time, the activist had asked for a change of bench. "Learn to trust your judges," Ranjan Gogoi had said, accusing Harsh Mander of "damaging the institution" and dismissing his plea.
Today, when Mr Mander's lawyer denied that he made any derogatory speech against the top court, Chief Justice Bobde asked for a transcript of the speech.
Harsh Mander, Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey, historian Irfan Habib, economist Prabhat Patnaik and some organisations have also approached the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutional validity of Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 and sought direction to strike it down.
