Haridwar hate speech case: SC asks Jitendra Tyagi to surrender by Sept 2

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered Wasim Rizvi aka Jitendra Tyagi to surrender for making hate speeches made against Muslims at a so-called religious conclave (Dharm Sansad) in Uttarakhand last year. Tyagi, formerly known as Wasim Rizvi, is currently out on medical bail.

The top court also noted that several cases are pending against Tyagi pertaining to the period when he held the post of chairman, Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Wakf Board. The top court directed Tyagi to surrender by September 2.

A bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and B V Nagarathna refused to extend the bail granted earlier on medical grounds, and said it will consider the regular bail plea filed by Tyagi on September 9, according to PTI. “There is no reason to give him relief. So many cases are pending against him. Ask him to surrender,” the bench told Tyagi’s lawyer. “Since you are on interim bail, you surrender first, then we will hear your appeal against the HC order,” the bench said.

“Your client has to engage a personal secretary to keep track of the cases against him,” said the bench as it went through a chart prepared by the Uttarakhand government listing out the criminal cases pending against the accused in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The apex court on May 17 granted three months of interim bail to Tyagi on medical grounds and directed him to give an undertaking that he would not indulge in hate speech and not give any statement on electronic or digital or social media, reported The Print.

Tyagi had approached the top court after the Uttarakhand High Court dismissed his bail plea in March this year.

The case against him and others had been lodged on the complaint of Nadeem Ali, a resident of Jwalapur Haridwar at Haridwar Kotwali on January 2 this year.

He had alleged in his complaint that Dharma Sansad or religious Parliament was organized in Haridwar by Hindu sages from December 17 to 19 last year and in the garb of this event, the participants were instigated to wage a war against Muslims.

-INDIA NEWS STREAM