The Supreme Court on Friday did not mince words while castigating Nupur Sharma for his “loose tongue”, even as the apex court refused to entertain to her petition to transfer all FIRs registered against her to Delhi. Former BJP leader and spokesperson had approached the Supreme Court for transferring all FIRs registered against her after her controversial remark on Prophet Muhammad in a TV debate last month. In all, 9 FIRs have been registered against Sharma in four Delhi, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Telangana. Mumbai Police had summoned her after an FIR was registered against her Mumbai.
Dismissing her plea for transfer of all FIRs to Delhi, the court allowed Sharma to withdraw it, advising her seek other legal remedies. Sharma had also sought quashing of all FIRs against her. In its order, the vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala said, “Senior counsel for the petitioner seeks and is permitted to withdraw the present writ petition with liberty to avail alternate remedies available under the law. The writ petition is dismissed as withdrawn.”
During the hearing in the day, the vacation bench made damning observations on the BJP leader. Castigating her, the bench said that “her loose tongue” has set the entire country on fire and she is single-handedly responsible for what is happening in the country and said she should “apologise to the whole country”. The court further said that her outburst is responsible for an unfortunate incident in Udaipur, where a tailor was murdered. On Tuesday, two Muslims had killed , in execution style Kanhaiya Lal, a resident of Udaipur, to avenge insult to Islam. Lal had supported Sharma in a social media post for which he was apparently targeted by Riyaz Akhtari and Ghaus Mohammad.
Rejecting Sharma’s request for transfer of all FIRs to Delhi for investigation, the bench told her counsel Maninder Singh, “The conscience of the court is not satisfied. We can’t mould the law accordingly.” When Singh told the bench that Sharma is facing threat to her life, Justice Kant retorted, “She has a threat or she has become a security threat?” The bench further observed, “The way she has ignited emotions across the country. This lady is single-handedly responsible for what is happening in the country.”
“We saw the debate on how she was incited. But the way she said all this and later says she was a lawyer with ten years standing? It is shameful. She should apologise to the whole country,” the apex court said. Sharma intemperate remarks has led to protests across the country, including a riot situation in Kanpur. Over 15 Muslim countries, including Gulf countries, had condemned her remarks, with calls for boycott of Indian products.
The bench also took a grim view of the TV news channel for hosting the discussion on the Gyanvapi case, which is a subjudice matter.