Umamageswari Maruthappan
The Supreme Court refused to stay the warrant issued against AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh in relation to his speech during the conference dated 12 August 2020.
The Apex Court Bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan asked for the High Court’s order against which the instant petition was filed.
“The judgment of the HC is on sanction and cognisance…the order of the Trial Court is on record! We said the petitioner is an MP and look at the complaint made! And the NBW has been issued for today!,” Senior Advocate Vivek Tankha, Counsel for the petitioner, submitted.
Notwithstanding the plea, the Bench refused to stay the non-bailable warrant and further adjourned the hearing to next week.
The case relates to the speech delivered by MP Sanjay Singh in a conference held in Lucknow, UP during which he made several allegations against the Uttar Pradesh Government claiming that the government is biased towards a particular caste.
Following his speech, several FIRs were lodged under 153-A, 153-B, 501, 505(1), 505(2) of the IPC. Later on, a summons was issued by a local court in Lucknow.
The issuance was challenged before the Allahabad High Court under section 482 of the CrPC. The High Court Bench, on 21st January 2021, had validated the sanction granted by the State Government for prosecution.
MP Singh alleged that the action to be “frivolous, baseless, vexatious and figments of the imagination of the complainant and the police department.”
He further requested through the petition to transfer the case outside Uttar Pradesh. The matter is now before the Supreme Court.