Why can’t Adityanath be prosecuted for hate speech, Supreme Court asks UP govt
New Delhi, Aug 20 : The Supreme Court on Monday sought response from Uttar Pradesh government on a plea challenging an order of Allahabad high Court order which had dismissed a petition seeking prosecution of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in a hate speech case of 2007.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud issued notice to the state government and the District Magistrate of Gorakhpur and posted the matter after four weeks for hearing.
Petitioner Rasheed Khan has challenged the high court order which had upheld the Uttar Pradesh government's refusal to grant sanction to prosecute Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Earlier this year, the Allahabad High Court had upheld a sessions court order which had quashed a magistrate's order taking cognizance of the chargesheet filed by the police in 2009.
The High Court had said that sessions court was right in holding that there was no prosecution sanction to initiate trial against the Chief Minister and others in the case.
In January 2017, the sessions court in Gorakhpur had quashed the magistrate court's cognisance order. The sessions court had said that there was no sanction to prosecute the accused, including Adityanath and others.
The Uttar Pradesh government had in May 2017 refused to grant the mandatory sanction for the prosecution of the Chief Minister. Several incidents of violence were reported in Gorakhpur on January 27, 2007, after the alleged hate speech of Adityanath.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
SC asks states to treat rising child trafficking cases as grave; seeks coordinated action
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court has voiced grave concern over rising cases of child trafficking, saying gangs are operating across the country and if States and Union territories do not take immediate action, thing will go beyond control.
The court said only the state government and its home department can act vigilantly in this regard.
“As a court we can monitor, but ultimately the action has to be on the part of the state government, the police, and other agencies. Therefore, this is our humble request”, a bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan said during the hearing of a plea on Wednesday.
The bench was irked over the "lackadaisical" approach of several states and UTs in implementing a 2025 judgment aimed at dismantling organised trafficking networks.
Justice Viswanathan said the retrieval of children in some cases proves the problem can be tackled, but it requires a level of political and administrative will which is lacking at present.
The verdict, delivered on April 15, 2025, had mandated several institutional reforms, including completion of trials in trafficking cases within six months on a day-to-day basis.
It had also directed strengthening of Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) and improving investigation standards.
Besides asking for setting up of state-level committees to monitor vulnerable trafficking hotspots, it had asked the authorities to treat missing children cases as trafficking unless proven otherwise.
Earlier, the bench had termed the compliance reports filed by a few states as "nothing but an eye wash."
On Wednesday, the bench noted that Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Haryana, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Odisha, and Punjab had still failed to file reports in the prescribed format.
When the home secretary of Madhya Pradesh offered an apology for the lapse, the bench granted a "final opportunity" but warned that continued failure would lead to states being officially branded as "defaulting".
The bench noted that at least 15 states are yet to constitute review committees mandated to identify and monitor trafficking-prone areas.
The matter will now be heard on April 29.
