Allahabad High Court rejects plea by Arvind Kejriwal for discharge in 2014 inflammatory speech case

The Allahabad High Court on Monday upheld an order of Sultanpur Sessions Court that had rejected Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's revision application seeking discharge in a case of alleged inflammatory speech delivered by him in the run-up to 2014 Lok Sabha elections [Arvind Kejriwal vs Stae of UP and Anr.]..Justice Rajesh Singh Chauhan observed that Kejriwal's statement threatened voters in the name of 'Khuda' knowing that the term will severely influence some set of voters belonging to different religion.."The statement so given by the applicant is not so plain and simple inasmuch as for one set of voters, he is uttering the term ‘Gaddar of the country’ and for the other set of voters, he is saying that ‘Khuda shall not pardon them’. Prima facie, it appears that he is threatening the later voters in the name of Khuda knowing fully well that if he uses the term ‘Khuda’, some set of voters belonging to different religion might have severely been influenced," the Court said..A first information report (FIR) against Kejriwal was registered by a Flying Squad Magistrate under Section 125 (promoting enmity between classes in connection with election) of the Representation of the People Act alleging that he had flouted the model code of conduct by stating,."Jo Congress ko vote dega, mera manana hoga, desh ke saath gaddari hogi. Bhajpa per katakch karte hue kaha ki jo Bhajpa ko vote dega use Khuda bhi muaf nahin karega, des ke sath gaddari hogi.".His application for discharge was rejected by a Magistrate's Court in Sultanpur. The revision application was rejected by a Sessions Court..Before the High Court, Kejriwal challenged both the orders contending that he cannot be held liable for the offence under Section 125 as he had not made any appeal for votes on the ground of religion and had not promoted enmity between classes. Advocate Mahmood Alam, who appeared for Kejriwal, informed the court that Kejriwal had been granted bail and further stated that his speech was merely based on his personal opinion and was, therefore, protected under Article 19 of the Constitution..Additional Government Advocate Alok Saran opposed the application stating that this was the Delhi CM's third application under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in the same case and that in the second application, the police had found a prima facie case and submitted a charge sheet.Therefore, he contended that the charge could be proved or disproved only before the trial court and no interference was required by the High Court under Section 482.Further, he contended that the statement was apparently violative of Section 125 of the Representation of the People Act as it said that the people voting for Congress would be 'Gaddars' and the ones voting for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) shall not be pardoned by Khuda. According to Saran, Kejriwal could have used the word 'Bhagwan' instead of 'Khuda' but deliberately used the word 'Khuda' for those who vote for the BJP.He said that since the courts below had considered Kejriwal's arguments thoroughly and returned their findings strictly in accordance with law, there was no infirmity in those orders..The Court highlighted that Article 19 of the Constitution gives all citizens the rights regarding freedom of speech and expression but subject to reasonable restrictions for preserving inter-alia public order, decency or morality.Stating the the extent of protection of speech would depend on whether it propagates ideas or has social value, the Court remarked that it was unable to comprehend as to how such a speech would constitute a propagation of ideas or would have any social valueThe Court determined that the intent behind the usage of the word 'Khuda' was a matter of trial. Hence, it directed Kejriwal to participate in the trial and dismissed his petition..[Read Order]