Plea for FIR against Anurag Thakur, Parvesh Verma dismissed for want of sanction

new delhi: A Delhi court on Wednesday dismissed a plea by CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat seeking an FIR against Union minister Anurag Thakur and his BJP colleague and MP Parvesh Verma for their alleged hate speeches with respect to the anti-CAA protests in Delhi.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vishal Pahuja rejected the application saying requisite sanction from the competent authority, the central government, was not obtained which was required under the law.

CPM leaders Brinda Karat and KM Tewari had filed the complaint seeking a direction to the Parliament Street Police Station to register an FIR against Thakur and Verma.

Karat had told the court in her complaint that Thakur and Verma had sought to incite people as a result of which three incidents of firing took place at two different protest sites in Delhi.

The complaint had sought lodging of FIRs under various sections, including 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc.), 153-B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the IPC.

Karat approached the court after her written complaints to the Commissioner of Police and the SHO, Parliament Street, failed to elicit any response. She had told the court that she had written to the commissioner on January 29 and subsequently on 31, while the letter to the SHO Parliament Street was sent on February 2.

Both Thakur and Verma have been more than vocal about violent action against anti-CAA protesters.