Delhi LG Sanctions Prosecution of Writer Arundhati Roy, Others under UAPA for a 2010 Case

NEW DELHI, June 14: The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi V.K. Saxena on Friday sanctioned the prosecution of noted writer Arundhati Roy and former Professor of International Law in the Central University of Kashmir Dr Sheikh Showkat Hussain under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in a 14-year old case of allegedly “propagating separation of Kashmir from India.”

“Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena has sanctioned the prosecution of Arundhati Roy and former Professor of International Law in Central University of Kashmir, Dr Sheikh Showkat Hussain, under section 45 (1) of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the case,” a Raj Niwas official said. “The issues discussed and spoken about at the conference propagated the separation of Kashmir from India,” the Raj Niwas official said.

The FIR against Ms Roy and Mr Hussain was registered following the orders of the Court of Metropolitan Magistrate, New Delhi. The two had allegedly made provocative speeches at a conference organized under the banner of “Azadi – The Only Way” in 2010 at LTG Auditorium, Copernicus Marg, New Delhi.  The issues discussed and spoken about at the conference propagated the “separation of Kashmir from India.”

Last October, the L-G had granted sanction to prosecute them under section 196 of CrPC for commission of offences punishable under different sections of the Indian Penal Code 124-A (provisions for Sedition), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony.), 153B (imputation, assertions, prejudicial to national integration), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace, 505 (statements conducing of public mischief). The FIR in the matter was registered on a complaint made by a Kashmir-based activist Sushil Pandit on October 28, 2010.

Besides Roy and Sheikh Showkat Hussain, the others who made speeches included late Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, SAR Geelani (anchor of the Conference and prime accused in the Parliament attack case) and Varavara Rao. Sayed Ali Shah Geelani, a Kashmiri separatist leader and Syed Abdul Rahman Geelani, a Delhi University lecturer, the two other accused in the case have died during the proceedings of the case.

The complainant Sushil Pandit had filed a complaint under Section 156(3) of CrPC before the Metropolitan Magistrate Court, New Delhi, who disposed of the complaint on November 27, 2010 with the directions to register an FIR. Accordingly, an FIR was registered and an investigation was carried out, the officials added.

It was alleged by the complainant that Geelani and Arundhati Roy strongly propagated that Kashmir was never part of India and was forcibly occupied by the Armed Forces of India and every possible effort should be made for the independence of the J-K from India. The recordings of the same were provided by the complainant.

Roy has been a vocal critic of the Modi government and has criticised it on several issues. The Congress leader and former union minister P Chidambaram had strongly criticised the Delhi LG when he had given the earlier sanction last year stating that the “LG and his masters” have no place in their regime for tolerance or forbearance.

The former Home Minister said there was no justification in 2010 to register the case against Ms Roy on the charge of sedition and there was no justification now to sanction prosecution against her. His remarks came after Mr Saxena accorded sanction to prosecute Ms Roy and a former Kashmiri professor in the 2010 case.

Mr Chidambaram had said, “I stand by what I said in 2010 in a speech by Ms Arundhati Roy, the well-known writer and journalist.” “There was no justification then to register a case against her on the charge of sedition. There is no justification now to sanction prosecution against her,” he said on X.

“There are other provisions of law that are adequate to deal with incitement to violence. It is obvious that the LG (and his masters) have no place in their regime for tolerance or forbearance; or for that matter the essentials of democracy,” he said in his long post on the microblogging website.

(Manas Dasgupta)