Former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma filed a new application in the Supreme Court of India to revive her withdrawn writ petition.
On July 1 she had withdrawn her petition to club the multiple FIRs registered against her in different parts of the country, including Hyderabad. The FIRs were registered after Sharma’s ‘blasphemous’ remarks on Prophet Muhammad drew attention on an international scale.
On July 1, a vacation bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and J B Pardiwala minced no words in criticizing Sharma for making irresponsible remarks and castigated her for her arrogance. Citing her remarks, the bench said, “It is so disturbing… the outcome is what happened at Udaipur… please do not compel us to open our mouth”, the bench told Sharma’s lawyer.
Nupur Sharma submitted that she tendered an apology immediately, and cited various top court judgments where clubbing of multiple FIRs was ordered for the same alleged offense. However, the bench remained unconvinced and Sharma had to withdraw the plea from the apex court.
Background
In a TV debate conducted by Times Now Group Editor Navika Kumar, the BJP spokesperson made insulting statements against the Prophet.
There was instant condemnation against her but the BJP took no steps to correct the same. The news soon spread to the Arab countries who sharply criticized the Narendra Modi-led government for not taking any action.
There were also reports of many superstores in Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain removing Indian products from their shelves. After the backlash, the Centre issued a press release stating that it “strongly denounces insults of any religious personalities of any religion”.
The party suspended Sharma, after which she issued a public apology stating, “If my words have caused discomfort or hurt anyone’s religious feelings whatsoever, I unconditionally withdraw my statement,”
Following her derogatory statements, protests broke out across India that soon spread to Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Telangana, West Bengal, Delhi, and Karnataka.
Two young Muslim men were killed when protestors clashed with the police.
However, the protests soon turned deadly for the protestors, as district administrations across the BJP-ruled states started demolishing houses.
Sharma is currently being given police protection by the Union government.
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