News Analysis India

Tag: Aziz Qureshi

  • Comment against Yogi: HC stays arrest of former UP governor Aziz Qureshi in sedition case

    By PTI

    ALLAHABAD: The Allahabad High Court on Friday stayed the arrest of former Uttar Pradesh governor Aziz Qureshi in a sedition case for making an alleged derogatory remark against the Yogi Adityanath government.

    A two-judge bench of the high court, comprising justices Pratinker Diwaker and Mohammad Aslam, passed the order on a petition filed by Qureshi seeking a stay on arrest and quashing of the FIR filed against him by local BJP leader Akash Kumar Saxena at the Civil Lines police station in Rampur district on September 5.

    During the course of the hearing, the counsel representing the state requested the court for three days’ time to seek instructions and summon the case diary.

    Senior advocate Salman Khurshid, appearing for the petitioner through video-conferencing, said that considering the facts and background of the case and also that the petitioner, aged around 82, is a former governor of Uttar Pradesh and two other states, he should be protected by some interim order so that he may not be harassed.

    The court fixed October 6 as the next date of hearing and observed, “Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, protection from arrest to the petitioner is granted till the next date of hearing.”

    In his complaint, Saxena alleged that Qureshi had used a derogatory statement against the Adityanath government.

    “The statement can create tension between two communities and create unrest in the society,” he had said in his complaint.

  • Former UP Governor Aziz Qureshi booked for comparing Yogi Adityanath to ‘blood-sucking monster’

    By PTI

    RAMPUR: Former Uttar Pradesh Governor Aziz Qureshi has been booked for sedition over his alleged derogatory remarks against the Yogi Adityanath government in the state, police said on Monday.

    The FIR was lodged following a complaint by BJP leader Akash Kumar Saxena at the Civil Lines Police Station in Rampur district on Sunday.

    In his complaint, Saxena alleged that after visiting Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan’s house and meeting his wife Tazeen Fatma, Qureshi made derogatory statements against the Yogi Adityanath government and compared it to a “blood-sucking demon”.

    “The statement can create tension between two communities and create unrest in the society,” Saxena said in his complaint.

    The BJP leader also handed over to police a pen drive containing Qureshi’s alleged statement which was aired by various news channels.

    Qureshi was booked under sections 153A (promoting enmity between two groups on grounds of religion, race), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 124A (sedition), and 505(1)(B) (intent to cause fear or alarm to the public), a senior police officer said.

    Qureshi (81), is a senior Congress leader and had served as the Governor of Mizoram from 2014 to 2015.

    He also had charge of Uttar Pradesh for some time.

    Police said action will be taken according to the law.