New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to Uttar Pradesh government and Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan for his controversial ‘political conspiracy’ remarks on Bulandshahr gangrape.
The plea was filed by the victim’s father to shift gangrape case out of the state.
The apex court said calling an incident of rape a ‘conspiracy’ cannot be called freedom of speech and defeats principles of constitutional compassion
The court also said that statements issued by political leaders like Azam Khan affect the public and create mistrust in the investigation and the entire system.
Khan had courted a controversy when he said that the Bulandshahar highway rape case could be a ‘political conspiracy to malign the image of the Akhilesh Yadav government’.
“We must also probe whether this entire controversy is a move by some Opposition elements to defame the government. People who want to come to power may be stooping this low for political interests,” Azam had said.
“If the Congress can instigate 1000 riots in the country for votes, if for votes Gujarat can happen, if Muzzaffarnagar, Shamli and Kairana can happen, then why not this. Had Gandhi been alive, all this might have not happened, but they even got him killed,” Khan added.
However, facing flak from political rivals Khan later retracted, saying he never made such remarks and he is a ‘very sensitive person’.
“Never said it was Opposition’s conspiracy, I only said that UP polls are close & so many such incidents are happening and they need to be investigated,” Azam Khan had told the media when he was asked if his comments were misconstrued.
Last month, a gang of dacoits had brutally raped a woman and her 13-year-old daughter at gunpoint after dragging them out of a car in Bulandshahr on NH-91 when they were travelling with their family from Noida to Shahjahanpur.
PTI