The Patiala House Court of Delhi has ordered the abolition of the 2019 sedition case registered against Shehla Rashid Shora, alumni leader of JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University). The court accepted the Delhi Police’s application, seeking permission to withdraw the case. The case was registered for alleged objectionable tweets on the Indian Army.
What did Delhi Police say in court?
According to Delhi Police sources, the court has approved the abolition of the case filed for the tweets filed against the Indian Army against former JNU vice -president Shehla Rashid.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Anuj Kumar Singh passed the order on 27 February on the application filed by the prosecution.
What were the allegations?
Many serious allegations were made against Shehla Rashid including sedition, including:
- Promote enmity between different groups based on religion, language, race and place of birth.
- To incite riots and do social harmony.
Significantly, under these allegations, there was a provision of punishment for maximum life imprisonment.
LG VK Saxena approved the withdrawal of the case
The Delhi Police appealed to withdraw the case when Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor (LG) VK Saxena withdrew his approval to prosecute Shehla Rashid.
- This decision of LG was taken on the basis of the recommendation of the screening committee.
- Delhi Police said in court, “The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi has approved the recommendation of the screening committee.”
- The order was given by the Lieutenant Governor on 23 December 2024, after which the police requested to withdraw the case.
What was the whole matter?
On 18 August 2019, Shehla Rashid posted a disputed post from his Twitter account, accusing the Indian Army of entering homes in Kashmir and harassing the local people.
However, the Indian Army had termed these allegations completely baseless and described it as false propaganda.
- After this tweet, a person named Alakh Alok Srivastava lodged a complaint with the New Delhi Special Cell Police Station.
- Based on this, Delhi Police registered an FIR against Shehla.
What will happen now?
Now that the court has abolished this case against Shehla Rashid, the matter has been completely closed.
- Shehla Rashid has got legal relief and now he will not have to face any hearing regarding this case.
- However, the matter has been in controversy since 2019, and mixed reactions on social media have been receiving mixed reactions.
