New Delhi : The Delhi Police was on Saturday asked by a local court to register an FIR against author Arundhati Roy, separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and five others for their purported anti-India speeches.
Metropolitan Magistrate Navita Kumari Bagha, rejecting the police’s status report that Geelani and the others had made no offence relating to sedition or allied charges, ruled: “The Delhi police is hereby directed to lodge an FIR under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and file a report in this regard on January 6, 2011 the next date of hearing.”
The court observed that prima facie evidence against the accused existed and asked the police to investigate further.
The other accused include Delhi University professor SAR Geelani, who ws acquitted in Parliament attack case, and Jammu and Kashmir University professor Sheikh Showkat Hussain.
The Delhi police was earlier pulled up the court for failing to submit proper status report on the complaint filed with them on October 28 by Sushil Pandit, seeking registration of FIR against Roy and Geelani.
The accused had made the anti-India comments at a convention in the nation capital in October and there were demands for action against the accused for the sedition remarks.