HC restrains police from taking coercive action against Patra

The Chhattisgarh High Court on Thursday restrained the state police from taking "coercive action" against BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra in two FIRs lodged against him for allegedly promoting enmity between different groups and hurting religious feelings.

The Chhattisgarh High Court on Thursday restrained the state police from taking "coercive action" against BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra in two FIRs lodged against him for allegedly promoting enmity between different groups and hurting religious feelings. Justice Sanjay K Agrawal granted the interim relief while hearing a petition filed by Patra, seeking to quash the FIRs contending that they were politically motivated, his lawyer Sharad Mishra said.

On May 11, separate First Information Reports were lodged against Patra at Civil Lines Police station in Raipur district and Bhilai Nagar police station in Durg district based on the complaint of state Youth Congress chief Poornachand Padhi and Ankush Pillai, respectively, he said. The complainants alleged that Patra, in tweets on May 9 and 10, leveled false allegations against former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajiv Gandhi over the Kashmir issue, 1984 anti-Sikh riots and Bofors scam, the lawyer said.

It was alleged that the BJP leader tried to "promote enmity between different groups on grounds of religion" as described under IPC section 153-A. While the police summoned Patra for recording his statement, he moved the HC seeking interim relief and quashing of the FIRs, said advocate Mishra.

After a hearing through video conference, the HC granted Patra relief, noting, among other things, his contention that he had contracted coronavirus and was recently discharged from hospital and undergoing quarantine for 14 days. Till the next date of hearing, "no coercive steps shall be taken against the petitioner", said the court, issuing a notice to the Chhattisgarh government and posting the matter for hearing after four weeks.