The Supreme Court has refused to hear pleas seeking action against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and has asked the petitioners to move the Gauhati High Court instead of bringing it up before the top court in the first place.
The direction was issued by a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul Pancholi and made it clear that the matter must first be tested before the jurisdictional High Court.
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Allegations over speeches and social media post
The bench observed, “All these issues can be effectively adjudicated by the jurisdictional High Court. We see no reason to entertain this here, and thus we relegate the petitioners to the jurisdictional High Court. We request the High Court Chief Justice to expeditious hearing.”
A total of three petitions were brought before the bench. Amongst which, two were filed by the Communist Party of India Marxist and Annie Raja of the CPI. The third was by four individuals from Assam, seeking action over alleged hate speeches and a controversial video shared on X by the BJP Assam showing the Chief Minister shooting, which was later taken down.
The plea by the four Assamese individuals alleged that Sarma used terms such as "Miya" and "Bangladeshi" as derogatory slurs against Bengali-origin Muslims.
CJI cautions against politicising the court
At the outset, the CJI remarked, "Wherever the elections come, this Court becomes a political battleground." He also appealed to political parties to fight elections with mutual respect and self-restraint.
The lawyer present on behalf of the petitioners stated that the High Court might require setting up an SIT with officers who are outside of Assam for a fair investigation into the matter. To which the CJI reminded the petitioner advocate that the High Court has the power to do so, and he, during his period as a High Court Judge, had issued such order. "Go through the channel, trust the High Court, approach them," the CJI said.
The CJI also warned not to undermine the "authority of the High Courts."The Supreme Court thus chose to step back, requesting the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court to grant a prompt hearing and leaving the matter to be examined in accordance with the law.
