Supreme Court Grants Bail To Jitendra Tyagi In Dharam Sansad Hate Speech Case For 3 Months On Medical Grounds

The Court however directed him to give an undertaking that he would not indulge in hate speech and not give any statement to electronic/digital/social media

A bench comprising Justices Ajay Rastogi and Vikram Nath issued the direction in the special leave petition filed by Tyagi challenging the March 8 order of the Uttarkhand High Court which denied him bail.

In the hearing today, Senior Advocate Vikas Singh appearing for Tyagi submitted that he had been in jail for 4 months in relation of a 2nd FIR which was completely illegal.

Relying to the ratio laid down in Bilal Ahmad v. State of Andhra Pradesh wherein the Top Court had said that there has to be 2 religions involved for the purpose of 153A applying, Singh said, "In the FIR there is no mention of 2 religions."

Referring to the counter affidavit, Jatinder Kumar Sethi, Dy. Advocate General for Uttarakhand, submitted that Tyagi was a history sheeter. He further said, "As regards Uttarakhand, in our state there are 4 cases all relating to hate speech. The question is if my friend wants bail on interim ground. There are 30 cases in UP and 4 in Uttarakhand in which 3 chargesheets have been filed. 3 of the same kind, in one he appeared in press club and made statements against particular community and in 2nd he released videos of Dharam Sansad. He was arrested on January 30, 2022."

The counsel for the State of Uttarakhand submitted that the maximum punishment for the offence is 3 years and that bail can be granted to him only if "he mends his ways".

"In case he wants bail he must mend his ways. Not make a statement of hate speech. He should not make a statement of hate speech and if he does, we will arrest him. Bail will automatically stand canceled and we will arrest him u/s 41(1)(b)(2) of CrPC, 1973 without notice. He should not repeat the offense in the sense that once he makes any hate speech today, there is counter from the other community and communal tussle. We have to maintain communal harmony at all cost. This is the major condition that we have today. As regards his medical condition is concerned, it fell from your lordships that we should examine. His medical condition today is stable. He has some cardiac problems. The first FIR we are investigating as of now," the Dy AG further said.

"Let him get bail on medical grounds and we'll keep the matter pending and see," the bench proposed at this juncture.

The bench was also informed that the other co-accused in the case have been granted bail.

Senior Advocate Gaurav Bhatia also appeared for the petitioner

He was arrested on January 13 this year in a case registered for offences under Section 153A and 298 of the Indian Penal Code. A single bench of Justice Ravindra Maithani refused him bail observing that he had made hugely derogatory remarks. "The Prophet has been abused; it intends to wound the religious feelings of persons belonging to a particular religion; it intends to wage war. It promotes enmity. It is a hate speech," the Court said.

Jitendra Tyagi, who was formerly known as Wasim Rizvi, was once the Chairman of the UP Shia Waqf Board. In December last year, he converted to Hinduism and accepted the name Jitendra Narayan Singh Tyagi.

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