In a case filed in 2010 over her remarks on Kashmir, Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena approved on Friday the prosecution of writer and campaigner Arundhati Roy under the strict anti-terror legislation known as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Additionally, permission has been granted to use the UAPA to prosecute Sheikh Showkat Hussain. He was a former professor of international law at the Central University of Kashmir.
According to Raj Bhavan officials, the FIR against Roy and Hussain was filed as a result of an order from a Metropolitan Magistrate court in New Delhi.
What Was The 2010 Case On Arundhati Roy ?
In October 2010, the Court of the Metropolitan Magistrate, New Delhi, issued orders pertaining to a complaint filed by Sushil Pandit. This led to the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against Ms. Roy and Dr. Hussain. “Roy and Hussain had allegedly made provocative speeches at a conference organized under the banner of ‘Azadi: The Only Way’ on October 21, 2010, at the LTG Auditorium, Copernicus Marg, New Delhi. The issues discussed and spoken about at the conference propagated the separation of Kashmir from India’,” the governor’s office said.
Among those present at the conference were Arundhati Roy, Syed Ali Shah Geelani (chairman of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat), S. A. R. Geelani, and Maoist sympathizer Varvara Rao, who is also an accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case. Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Arundhati Roy allegedly propagated that Kashmir was never part of India. Moreover, they argued that it was forcibly occupied by the Indian Armed Forces. Further, they urged for the independence of Jammu and Kashmir from India. Over the course of the case, the other two accused, Delhi University lecturer Syed Abdul Rahman Geelani and head of the Kashmiri separatist movement Sayed Ali Shah Geelani, have both passed away.
The accused were charged with offenses under several sections of the Indian Penal Code last October. These included Sections 124-A (provisions for sedition), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony), 153-B (imputation, assertions, prejudicial to national integration), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), and 505 (statements conducive to public mischief). The L-G had granted sanction to prosecute the accused under Section 196 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
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