Delhi – LG Grants Sanction to Prosecute Arundhati Roy under UAPA
New Delhi. Delhi LG VK Saxena has granted sanction to prosecute Arundhati Roy under the stringent anti-terror law Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). She, along with former Professor in Central University of Kashmir, Dr. Sheikh Showkat Hussain have been sanctioned for prosecution under section 45 of UAPA for their alleged ‘provocative’ speech at an event in New Delhi in 2010.
The FIR against Roy and Hussain was registered following an order of a Metropolitan Magistrate court in New Delhi, based on a complaint made by Sushil Pandit, a social activist from Kashmir, on October 28, 2010.
The complainant had alleged that Ms. Roy and Mr. Hussain made provocative speeches at a conference organised under the banner of ‘Azadi – The Only Way’ in October 2010 in New Delhi. The issues discussed and spoken about at the conference propagated the ‘separation of Kashmir from Bharat’.
Apart from Roy and Hussain, others who participated in the event included the Kashmiri separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani, former Delhi University lecturer SAR Geelani, who was acquitted in the Parliament attack case, and activist Varavara Rao. All three died as the case progressed.
In October last year, the L-G had granted sanction under Section 196 of the CrPC to prosecute the accused for the offences of promoting enmity between different groups and making statements to cause public mischief.
Sushil Pandit, the complainant, approached the Metropolitan Magistrate Court in New Delhi seeking a direction to the police to initiate a probe, and the court ordered the registration of an FIR in November 2010.
