Court schools Azmi over Aurangzeb remarks, cautions him to exercise restraint during interviews
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Mumbai (PTI): Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Azmi has been cautioned by a Mumbai court to exercise restraint during interviews as any “irresponsible” statement by a senior politician like him can spark riots.
Additional Sessions Judge V G Raghuwanshi schooled Azmi while granting him anticipatory bail on Tuesday in a case filed against the SP legislator for his remarks praising Mughal ruler Aurangzeb.
The offence concerns some statements made during an interview and it means police do not need custody for seizure of any article or interrogation, the court said in the order, a copy of which was made available on Thursday.
Noting that Azmi is a politician and businessman and it was improbable that he would run away from the course of justice, the judge said it was a “fit case to exercise discretion” in his favour.
“Before parting with the order I would like to caution the applicant (Azmi) to exercise restraint on himself while giving interviews, having regards to prevailing circumstances. Any irresponsible statement can flare riots and create law and order problems,” the court said.
“I hope the applicant, being a senior politician, will understand his responsibility,” it added.
The case was registered last week against the MLA, who represents the Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar constituency in the metropolis, under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) over his remarks eulogising the medieval-era Mughal emperor.
He was booked under BNS sections 299 (deliberate and malicious act insulting the religious beliefs of any group of people), 302 (hurting someone's religious feelings) and 356(2)(defamation).
Azmi, who is also the Samajwadi Party’s Maharashtra unit president, had said while talking to the media that during Aurangzeb’s reign, India’s borders reached Afghanistan and Burma (Myanmar).
“Our GDP (gross domestic product) accounted for 24 per cent (of world GDP) and India was called a golden sparrow,” the opposition legislator had claimed.
Asked about the fight between Aurangzeb and Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, Azmi had termed it a political battle.
The remarks were made in the backdrop of the blockbuster Hindi film ‘Chhaava’, based on the life of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, who was captured by Aurangzeb’s commander in 1689. Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj and his father, legendary Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, are highly revered figures in Maharashtra.
Seeking anticipatory bail, Azmi, who has been suspended from the Maharashtra legislative assembly till March 26, submitted in the court that his statements were made to the press “spontaneously without any premeditated intention to insult any personality or hurt the religious feelings of any person”.
Azmi’s lawyer Mubin Solkar had submitted before the court that the FIR did not disclose any offence against the SP legislator.
“The allegations didn’t show he had made the statements, deliberately and with malicious intentions of outraging religious sentiments,” Solkar had argued.
The prosecution had opposed his plea, saying that after the release of a movie, religious sentiments of people are volatile and in such circumstances the applicant made controversial statements in his interview.
After hearing both sides, the court said that the investigation was at the primary stage and “therefore it will not be fair to comment upon the interview given by the applicant”.
Further, the judge said that he was surprised to hear that the investigating officer did not have the video recording of the alleged interview till “today” and he registered an offence without watching it.
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Prez nod for FIR against AAP's Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain in Rs 2,000-cr classroom 'scam'
New Delhi, Mar 13 (PTI): President Droupadi Murmu has given her approval for the registration of an FIR against AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain in an alleged scam of Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of classrooms in Delhi government schools, sources said.
In 2022, the Delhi government's vigilance directorate recommended a probe into the alleged scam and submitted a report to the chief secretary.
The President has given her approval for registering the FIR against Sisodia and Jain in connection with the alleged scam during their tenures as ministers in the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government, the sources said.
The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), in a report dated February 17, 2020, highlighted "glaring irregularities" in the construction of classrooms in Delhi government schools by the Public Works Department (PWD).
The President's approval came under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act that pertains to "enquiry or inquiry or investigation of offences relatable to recommendations made or decision taken by public servant in discharge of official functions or duties".
Reacting to the development, senior AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj accused the BJP of carrying out a witch-hunt against its political rivals.
The BJP has no interest or intention to fulfil the promises it made to the people of Delhi. Its only agenda is to carry out a witch-hunt against its political rivals to stifle the voice of people, the former minister said in a statement.
The BJP-led central government has already decided to prosecute every political adversary of the party and grant approvals to move the case forward but it should wait for the judicial process to begin, he said.
In July 2019, BJP leader Harish Khurana and then AAP rebel MLA Kapil Mishra, now a minister in the Delhi government, lodged a police complaint about the alleged scam.
According to a report prepared by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of the Delhi government, the complainants alleged that there was a scam worth over Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of classrooms and school buildings in Delhi. The work was done at a highly inflated cost by the Delhi government.
The alleged scam involves the construction of around 12,748 classrooms.
The ACB report said the total expenditure incurred for constructing the classrooms and school buildings was around Rs 2,892.65 crore. They were allegedly constructed at the rate of Rs 8,800 per square feet, whereas it was common knowledge that the average construction cost (even for a builder of flats) was around Rs 1,500 per square feet.
The total cost for constructing a classroom and school building, according to the tender awarded, was allegedly around Rs 24.86 lakh per room, whereas such rooms are easily constructed in Delhi at around Rs 5 lakh per room, it said.
The prices were increased almost five times to defraud the taxpayer by siphoning off money from the public exchequer in the garb of construction cost, the report said.
Even for a 5-star hotel, top ultra-luxury quality construction is around Rs 5,000 to Rs 5,500 per square feet, it said.
The complainants submitted a copy of documents in which information received under the RTI Act in respect of the construction of 18 classrooms in the Govt Girls Senior Secondary School, Nathupura, Burari (school ID:-1207111) revealed that they were constructed at a cost of Rs 12 crore, the ACB report said.
