A court in Uttarakhand on Tuesday granted bail to Hindutva supremacist Yati Narsinghanand Giri in the Haridwar hate speech case, Live Law reported.
Giri and several other Hindutva supremacists had called for violence against Muslims at the dharam sansad, or religious conclave, held in Haridwar in December. He had called upon Hindus to pick up weapons, asserting that the “economic boycott” of Muslims will not work. Giri was arrested on January 15.
Despite the bail, the seer will stay in jail as he has been also booked for derogatory remarks against women, according to The Indian Express. Giri had allegedly said that Muslim women have joined the Bharatiya Janata Party, have captured the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and can act as the mistresses of anyone for the service of Islam.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Bharat Bhushan Pandey on Tuesday observed that the Giri had not been convicted in any of the cases so far, Live Law reported.
The court also noted that the complaint against Giri had been lodged based on a video of the event posted on Facebook. It added that the complainant was not present at the religious conclave and that the first information report did not contain the name of the accused person either.
The seer’s lawyer alleged that the entire case is “fake” and “sponsored by religious people”. He also contended that Giri had been “deprived of his personal liberty” solely based on a video clip. The seer’s counsel argued before the court that Giri had no role in the live telecast of the dharam sansad.
On January 19, a court in Uttarakhand had denied bail to Giri saying that the seer “is repeatedly making comments to incite communal passions and spoiling religious harmony/atmosphere through social media and there is a strong possibility of serious crimes being committed in the area”.
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