The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine a plea challenging an Allahabad High Court order that rejected a petition seeking an inquiry into Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath’s alleged role in the riots in Gorakhpur in 2007, PTI reported. Adityanath was the Lok Sabha MP from Gorakhpur at the time.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud asked the petitioner to serve a copy of the plea to all parties, PTI reported.
The Allahabad High Court bench in February had said that the court found no material irregularities in the investigation and in the Uttar Pradesh’s government’s refusal to grant sanction to prosecute Adityanath.
The case so far
On February 1, the Allahabad High Court had upheld a sessions court verdict that quashed a magistrate’s order taking cognisance of a chargesheet against Adityanath in the case. However, the court had held that the chief judicial magistrate of Gorakhpur can decide on the case afresh “in accordance with the law and in the exercise of his unfettered discretion”.
On January 27, 2007, the Kotwali Police registered a First Information Report against Adityanath and several others for allegedly promoting enmity between two groups of people. After the Bharatiya Janata Party leader was arrested on the basis of the FIR, members of the Hindu Yuva Vahini – a group Adityanath founded – ransacked public property and torched a train compartment.
Later, an FIR was filed against Adityanath for allegedly inciting communal riots through hate speeches.
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