Arundhati Roy faces prosecution over 2010 speech, sedition charges omitted

Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has given approval for the prosecution of author Arundhati Roy and former University of Kashmir professor Sheikh Showkat Hussain. They are accused of making provocative speeches during a 2010 seminar in Delhi, allegedly promoting the idea of separating Kashmir from India.

The complaint against them was filed by Sushil Pandit and a Kashmiri Pandit organization called ‘Roots In Kashmir.’ They claimed that the speeches at the convention titled ‘Azadi: The Only Way’ were against India’s interests, promoting enmity, and jeopardizing public peace and security.

Case against Arundhati Roy and Sheikh Showkat Hussain under Sections 153A, 153B, and 505 of IPC :

The Delhi Lieutenant Governor found that there was a prima facie case against Arundhati Roy and Sheikh Showkat Hussain under Sections 153A, 153B, and 505 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). These sections relate to promoting enmity between groups, making assertions prejudicial to national integration, and making statements conducing to public mischief.

However, the Lieutenant Governor did not approve their prosecution under Section 124A (Sedition) of the IPC. This is because the Supreme Court, in May 2022, directed that all pending trials and proceedings under sedition charges be put on hold.

Under Section 196(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), a valid sanction from the state government is required for prosecuting certain offenses like hate speech, hurting religious sentiments, hate crimes, sedition, waging war against the state, and promoting enmity.

Two other individuals, Kashmiri separatist leader Sayed Ali Shah Geelani and Delhi University lecturer Syed Abdul Rahman Geelani, were also accused in the case. However, Syed Abdul Rahman Geelani had been acquitted by the Supreme Court in the Parliament attack case on technical grounds, and both Geelani and Sayed Ali Shah Geelani have since passed away during the case’s pendency.

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