News
Haridwar Dharam Sansad: Jitendra Tyagi is exonerated by the court in a hate speech case
According to witness testimony made during cross-examination, the court noted that "no religious tension arose following the speech."
.jpg)
Jitendra Tyagi, formerly known as Wasim Rizvi, was cleared by a Haridwar court in relation to a 2021 hate speech charge during the Hairdwar Dharam Sansad.
Tyagi was found not guilty by Chief Judicial Magistrate Avinash Srivastava, who noted that, according to The Indian Express,
It takes more than one person to be harmed for there to be an offense under Section 153A of the IPC. Furthermore, under this clause, causing offense is not a necessary component of the offense. Although it may be illegal to offend someone's religious feelings verbally under Section 298 IPC, it is necessary for the remarks to be stated in front of the person who is purportedly offended, which is not the situation in this instance.
The former head of the Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board, Tyagi, became a Hindu.
Tyagi was the subject of a first information complaint filed on January 2, 2022, for uttering offensive remarks about Islam and the Prophet Muhammad at the Dharam Sansad, which took place in Haridwar from December 17 to 19, 2021.
According to the report, the complainant acknowledged providing the investigating officer with video material that he had downloaded from social media and moved from his phone to the disputed pen drive.
Social media messages are typically viral in nature and intended for general public consumption. As a result, the video footage on the complainant's mobile device does not qualify as genuine evidence under the heading of electronic records. Additionally, it cannot be completely ruled out that the sender altered the text that was provided with the complainant," the order said.
Additionally, the Court noted that witness testimony made during cross-examination indicated that "no religious tension arose following the speech."
