Why can’t Yogi Adityanath be prosecuted for hate speech, SC asks UP government

The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh government over the alleged "hate speech" by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in 2007. Hearing the matter, a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra asked the state government why Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath can't be prosecuted in the 2007 hate speech case.

The SC notice to the UP government was issued while hearing a petition challenging the Allahabad High Court order in the case, according to news agency ANI.

In February 2018, the Allahabad High Court had dismissed a plea seeking the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged involvement of Adityanath in the 2007 Gorakhpur riots case.

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2007 Gorakhpur riots: The case pertains to the reported altercation between Hindus and Muslims in January 2007 over a Muharram procession in Gorakhpur which led to riots after a member of the Hindu community died.

Adityanath, the then Gorakhpur MP, disobeying a district magistrate order to visit the site travelled there with his supporters. He sat on a dharna there and allegedly made inflammatory speeches, following which his supporters turned violent and set fire to a nearby Muslim mausoleum.

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The authorities had then imposed a curfew, but Adityanath broke that and was subsequently arrested for not following the law. With his arrest, the situation escalated and riots spread across the district. Members of his Hindu Yuva Vahini allegedly burnt several mosques, homes, buses and coaches of Mumbai-Gorakhpur Godan Express.