Yogi Adityanath Hate Speech Case: Allahabad HC Cites 'Wrong Reporting' To Gag Media [Read Order]

Allahabad High Court has prohibited the media from reporting the proceedings in the 2008 Gorakhpur hate speech case, in which Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is the prime accused.

During the hearing, the Bench comprising Justice Krishna Murari and Justice Akhilesh Chandra Sharma was informed by Additional Advocate General Mr. Manish Goel that "wrong reporting of the day to day proceedings of this case is being made by the media which is causing lot of embarrassment as the observations are reported out of context and very often misquoted".

The Court agreed with the submission after a perusal of media reports submitted before it and ordered, "we are constrained to pass the order directing that no one shall publish or cause to be published any proceedings of this case till the delivery of the judgment".

Mr. Adityanath, the then BJP parliamentarian from Gorakhpur, is accused of making a provocative speech in front of a railway station on 27 January, 2007. The Petitioners, local journalist Pervez Parwaz and activist Asad Hyat, have alleged that it was his speech that led to the riots in Gorakhpur.

The Police had then registered a case in 2008, on a complaint filed by Mr. Parwaz. The case was investigated by the Criminal Investigation Department or CID of the UP police, which sought a sanction for prosecution in 2015.

The sanction request was, however, refused in May this year. This has been challenged by the Petitioners, who have pointed out the "the imminent bias" involved as Mr. Adityanath, as the head of the state, had the power to grant or refuse sanction to prosecute himself. The Petitioners had further demanded that the accused be "made party" to the case "to provide complete justice to… the stakeholders".

Read the Order Here