2007 hate speech: SC stays trial court order directing Azam Khan to give voice sample
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed an order of a trial court directing Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan to give a voice sample in a case of allegedly delivering a hate speech and using derogatory language against BSP chief Mayawati in 2007.
The voice sample has been sought to match it with Khan's speech, which was made during a public meeting in Rampur's Tanda area in 2007 and recorded on a CD.
A bench of justices A S Bopanna and P K Mishra issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government and the complainant in the case on the plea filed by Khan.
"Issue notice to the respondent. In the meanwhile, there shall be an interim stay of the direction of the trial court order dated October 29, 2022, and upheld by the high court dated July 25, 2023," the bench said.
Khan has challenged the July 25 order of the Allahabad High Court which disposed of his plea and upheld the order of the trial court in Rampur.
The complaint was registered by one Dheeraj Kumar Sheel against Khan at the Tanda police station under SC/ST Act in 2007, charging him with delivering a hate speech and allegedly using derogatory language against then chief minister Mayawati.
The case was registered in Rampur under the Indian Penal Code sections 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 171-G (false statement in connection with an election).
The police had also invoked section 125 of the Representation of Peoples Act and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against Khan.
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Compromised PM didn't sign trade deal with US, but a bargain for Adani's release: Rahul
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of signing a trade deal with the US only to secure the "release" of billionaire businessman Gautam Adani.
"Compromised PM did not strike a trade deal, but a bargain for Adani's release," Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X, after reports that the US has agreed to settle the lawsuit that accused Adani of hiding alleged bribery.
The US government has agreed to settle the lawsuit filed against Adani, who is accused of duping investors by concealing that his company's huge solar energy project in India was being facilitated by an alleged bribery scheme, according to court filings published Thursday.
Reacting to the reports, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said it was now clear why the PM agreed to the "hopelessly one-sided Indo-US trade deal that was really a steal by the US".
"And it is also clear why he abruptly halted Operation Sindoor on May 10, 2025, acting on President Trump's threats rather than on our national interest. Reportedly, the Trump Administration is about to drop all charges of corruption against Modani," he said on X.
"How much more compromised can the PM get?" Ramesh asked.
In the lawsuit filed in late 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani, who is a director at the group's renewable energy unit Adani Green Energy Ltd, of agreeing to pay about USD 265 million in bribes to Indian government officials between approximately 2020 and 2024 to obtain lucrative solar energy supply contracts on terms that expected to yield USD 2 billion of profit over 20 years.
It was alleged in the lawsuit that Adani Group raised USD 2 billion in loans and bonds, including from US firms, on the backs of false and misleading statements related to the firm's anti-bribery practices and policies.
The ports-to-energy conglomerate had denied the allegations.
