The Supreme Court requested a status report from the Uttarakhand government regarding the FIRs related to the three-day “dharam sansad” held in Haridwar last December.

Following a new application by the petitioners alleging police negligence in Uttarakhand, the apex court directed the government to provide information. Similar speeches were also reported in another event.

A bench led by Justice A M Khanwilkar and Justice Abhay S Oka allowed the petitioners to serve a copy of their application to the standing counsel of Himachal Pradesh. The petitioners were advised to address the issue of the proposed event with relevant authorities in Himachal.

The fresh application was filed in connection with a pending petition by Delhi resident Qurban Ali and Senior Advocate Anjana Prakash against hate speeches delivered in December 2021. The Supreme Court had issued notice on January 12 and expressed concerns about possible inflammatory speeches in future events.

The standing counsel for Uttarakhand informed the court that the state had filed four FIRs in the matter and submitted chargesheets in three of them. The state requested three weeks to file a status report.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal mentioned a new application filed regarding the proposed event in Himachal and urged the court to take action. Although the bench did not issue a notice, they allowed the petitioners to serve the application to the Himachal counsel.

The court will reconvene on April 22 to further discuss the matter. The main petition highlighted the seriousness of the hate speeches and their potential threat to the unity and safety of the country.

On January 15, Narsinghanand, the head priest of Ghaziabad’s Dasna Devi temple and organizer of the Haridwar event, was arrested by Uttarakhand police on multiple charges, including hate speech. He was granted bail in the hate speech case on February 8.

Another case was filed against Narsinghanand on April 3 for delivering an inflammatory speech at a mahapanchayat in Delhi, where he encouraged Hindus to arm themselves against perceived threats.