On 28th April 2023, the Supreme Court of India dismissed a plea seeking pan-India guidelines to control violence during Ram Navami processions. A bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Aravind Kumar dismissed this plea represented by advocate Vishal Tiwari.
BREAKING: #SupremeCourt DISMISSES plea seeking all-India guidelines to control violence during Ram Navami processions.
— LawBeat (@LawBeatInd) April 28, 2023
Justice Khanna: “Let us not make this such a big issue. We cannot get into legislation.”
Advocate: It is a pattern! It happens every year!
SC: Dismissed pic.twitter.com/9A3RQB1XVm
Ram Navami or the birth anniversary of Lord Rama is an auspicious occasion in the Hindu calendar year. However, like every year, Hindus came under attack when they celebrated one of their most revered festival on March 30 this year. Noticing the attacks becoming a pattern, a plea was filed in the Supreme Court to request an all-India guideline to control violence during the Hindu festival.
The court, reacting to this plea, said, “Let us not make this such a big issue. We cannot get into legislation. You withdraw.” Advocate Vishal Tiwari said, “Every year it happens. It is a pattern. Let me file representation then.”
Supreme Court hearing plea seeking all-India guidelines to control violence during Ram Navami processions.
— Bar & Bench – Live Threads (@lawbarandbench) April 28, 2023
Justice Khanna: Let us not make this such a big issue. We cannot get into legislation. You withdraw. #SupremeCourtofIndia #SupremeCourt pic.twitter.com/BDhhkrsBMf
The court said in its order, “Petition is dismissed as withdrawn, with liberty to file appropriate representations. We make it clear that we have not expressed any opinion on the merits of the same.”
Adv Vishal Tiwari: Every year it happens. It is a pattern. Let me file representation then.
— Bar & Bench – Live Threads (@lawbarandbench) April 28, 2023
Order: Petiton is dismissed as withdrawn, with liberty to file appropriate representations. We make it clear that we have not expressed any opinion on the merits of the same.
This is the second time apex court dismissed a Hindu plea regarding Ram Navami violence
Earlier on Monday, April 17, the Supreme Court refused to hear petitions seeking the registration of FIRs in recent incidents of violence witnessed during Ram Navami processions in different parts of the country.
The petition was filed by Hindu Front for Justice (Trust), through advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain. Alleging that disturbances and violent acts are committed by members of the Muslim community every year during Ram Navami processions across the country, the plea sought the filing of FIRs in the violent incidents that took place during this year’s Ram Navami celebrations in various parts of the country.
Rejecting the plea, the apex court asked the petitioner to approach the high courts of the respective states where the incidents were reported.
Ram Navami violence
There were reports of stone-pelting and violence in many cities of the country. One person was killed in West Bengal and one in Maharashtra in these violent incidents. Apart from this, there have also been reports of stones pelting on the Shobha Yatra of Ram Navami in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.
In fact, a fact-finding team, probing the violence that had erupted in West Bengal this year during Ram Navami Shobha Yatra, had alleged that the “riots were pre-planned, orchestrated and instigated.” It said that the West Bengal Police allowed the violence to go on during a Ram Navami Shobha Yatra in the Hooghly district. The Calcutta HC also observed that the violence in West Bengal was prima facie ‘pre-planned.’
OpIndia recently documented the current status of each such case. While we provided a summary of the incidents of violence, we also included the action taken by the police and their statements of the incidents, and in many cases, we also documented the versions of those Hindus who were victims of the hate crime.
