The Supreme Court on Friday ordered to transfer all FIRs filed against former BJP leader Naveen Kumar Jindal to Delhi. Several FIRs were filed against the Delhi politician in the month of June for alleged blasphemy of Prophet Mohammad after he made certain controversial remarks. He was subsequently expelled by the BJP, along with the suspension of Nupur Sharma for similar charges.
Hearing a plea by Jindal to consolidate all FIRs and shift them to Delhi, a Supreme Court bench of Justices MR Shah and MM Sundresh ordered all FIRs against Naveen Kumar Jindal to be transferred to the Intelligence Fusion Strategic Operations (IFSO) Unit of Delhi Police. The court also ordered that no precipitative action should be taken or no new FIR should be filed against Jindal for the same offences for 8 weeks, so that he can pursue his appropriate remedy before the Delhi High Court.
“All FIRs to be transferred to Delhi Police IFSO Unit. No precipitative action or further FIRs against the accused for eight weeks so he can pursue his appropriate remedy before the Delhi High Court,” the bench said. The court also extended interim protection granted to Jindal till the probe is concluded by cyber cell unit of the Delhi police.
Multiple FIRs have been filed against Jindal for his remarks on Prophet Mohammad in Pune, Bhiwandi, Kolkata and other places across the country.
Earlier in August, the apex court had issued a similar order to merge all FIRs against former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma and transfer them to Delhi. In that order, the Supreme Court bench had cited the earlier order of the apex court directing the merger of all FIRs against Alt News cofounder Md Zubair and the transfer of cases against him to Delhi, saying the bench will follow the steps taken by the bench in the Zubair case. Nupur Sharma’s comments on a TV debate had sparked riots in several places in the country, and several persons were murdered by Islamists for extending support to her on social media.