Supreme Court Refuses to Revisit Ruling on CAA Protests and Hate Speech

Supreme Court's Decision on CAA Protests

New Delhi, August 3 - The Supreme Court has declined to review its previous ruling which stated that no cognizable offense was established regarding the alleged hate speeches made by BJP leaders Anurag Thakur and Pravesh Verma during the 2020 protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Delhi. The bench, comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, dismissed the petition filed by Communist Party of India (Marxist) leaders Brinda Karat and K.M. Tiwari, who sought a reconsideration of the apex court's decision from April 29.

The bench noted, 'We have examined the review petition and the grounds presented in support of it. We found no error in the order, particularly no apparent error that warrants a review.' This order was issued on July 29 but was recently uploaded to the court's website. The Supreme Court had previously stated that no cognizable offense was established against Thakur and Verma.

Thakur, a BJP MP, is a former Union Minister, while Verma serves as a minister in the Delhi government. The CPI(M) leaders had challenged the Delhi High Court's June 2022 ruling, which dismissed their petition that sought to direct the lower court to register an FIR against Thakur and Verma for their alleged hate speeches during the CAA protests in Shaheen Bagh, Delhi. In its ruling, the Supreme Court noted that the High Court had independently investigated and concluded that the speeches did not indicate any cognizable offense.

Furthermore, the apex court observed that the statements were not directed against any specific community and did not incite violence or disorder. The CPI(M) leaders had alleged that Thakur delivered a hate speech at a rally in Rithala on January 27, 2020, and claimed that Verma made inflammatory and hateful remarks on January 28, 2020.