Uttar Pradesh has refused permission to prosecute chief minister Yogi Adityanath and other suspects in the 2007 Gorakhpur riots, the state’s top legal officer told the Allahabad high court on Thursday.
The development came during hearing into a petition seeking an independent probe into the violence. UP’s advocate general Raghvendra Singh told the court that the case was politically motivated and that principal secretary (home) declined to grant sanction for prosecution.
In 2008, an FIR was lodged by Parvez Parwaz in which he accused then local MP Adityanath, then city mayor Anju Chaudhri, then MLA Radha Mohan Agarwal and one more person of inciting communal violence.
But the advocate general said the CB-CID had already completed its probe and raised doubts over the petitioner registering the case 10 months after the incident. The court fixed July 7 as the next date of hearing.
The advocate general said UP’s principal secretary (home) decided on May 3, 2017, on the opinion of the legal department on the basis of a forensic report of a CD allegedly capturing hate speech by a few of the accused.
Parwaz’s counsel sought time to file a challenge the refusal of sanction for prosecution. The bench comprising justice Ramesh Sinha and justice UC Srivastava granted 10 days’ time.
As per law, the sanction for prosecution under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code (inciting communal violence) is granted by the state government.
Source: HindustanTimes