SC grants interim protection to man accused of communal remarks

The Supreme Court on Monday granted interim protection from coercive action until 14th July to Wazahat Khan who filed a complaint against social media influencer Sharmistha Panoli for allegedly making communal remarks in a video reported news agency PTIA bench comprising Justices KV Viswanathan and N Kotiswar Singh passed the order while hearing a plea by Khan who faces FIRs across several states including West BengalThe bench noted that Khan had already been arrested by West Bengal Police and was in custodyAccording to PTI his counsel stated that the FIRs and complaints against Khan were registered in various states for his old tweets which were alleged to have hurt religious sentimentsAfter the bench agreed to hear his plea his counsel sought no further coercive action against his client until the next date of hearingHaving considered the prayer we are inclined to grant the same the bench statedAs an interim measure the top court ruled that until the next hearing on 14th July no coercive action should be taken against the petitioner pursuant to the FIRs or complaints referred to in the petition or any other FIRs or complaints that may be lodged against him in connection with similar allegationsThere is a famous Tamil saying It must be there in Telugu also A wound inflicted by a fire may heal but not a wound inflicted by the tongue the bench observed according to PTIKhan was arrested by Kolkata Police on 9th June He moved the apex court alleging that FIRs and complaints had been lodged against him in several states including Assam West Bengal Maharashtra and Haryana for certain old tweets he had madeHe argued that these FIRs were in retaliation to a complaint he had filed against Panoli who was arrested and later released on bailI have deleted all of them and apologised his counsel said submitting that Khan was perhaps reaping what he has sownHis counsel further argued that the first FIR according to the petitioner was dated 2nd JuneHe also referred to a number of previous judgments and orders of the apex court in which orders to consolidate FIRs either in one state or multiple FIRs filed in a state to the state concerned were passedThe bench agreed to hear the plea and issued notice to the Centre and the states of West Bengal Assam Maharashtra Delhi and HaryanaThe matter is scheduled to be heard on 14th JulyKhan arrested by the Kolkata Police earlier in June was booked in the case for offences under the BNS including promoting enmity between different groups based on religion race and insults or attempts to insult religionAn FIR was registered against him at the Golf Green Police Station in south Kolkata for allegedly promoting hate speech and hurting religious sentiments through his social media postsAccording to PTI the other charges levelled against him included provoking a breach of peace and making statements conducive to public mischiefPanoli a 22yearold law student was arrested by Kolkata Police from Gurugram in Haryana on 30th May after a video she uploaded on social media drew widespread outrageShe was booked by Garden Reach Police Station in Kolkata on 15th MayThe Calcutta High Court granted her interim bail on 5th JuneKhan the primary complainant against Panoli had registered a complaint against the influencer for offences including malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings leading the police to lodge a case against herIn the video Panoli allegedly used abusive language and made communal remarks while criticising a section of Bollywood celebrities for their silence on Operation SindoorWith inputs from PTI