Haryana Court: Ram Bhagat Gopal accused of Hate Speech granted Bail

RAM-BHAGAT-GOPAL-GRANTED-BAIL-BY-HARYANA-COURT

Deepali Kalia-

Published on August 03, 2021 at 1:03 PM

A Haryana Court has granted bail to Ram Bhagat Gopal, a 19-year-old, who has been accused of allegedly delivering provocative and inflammatory speeches at a maha panchayat in Pataudi, against the Muslim community.

Gopal was arrested at an event after he allegedly used hate speech and made derogatory remarks against the Muslim community. He allegedly exhorted people to abduct Muslim girls and kill persons from the Muslim community.

Notably, Ram Bhagat Gopal became notorious after a picture of him firing at the anti-CAA protestors in the Jamia area in Delhi had gone viral.

Bail was granted to Gopal by an Additional District and Sessions judge. In an FIR registered against Gopal, he has been charged under sections 295A (malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings) and 53A (promoting enmity between different groups on the ground of religion) of the Indian Penal Code.

Earlier in the present case, Judicial Magistrate Mohammad Sageer had rejected his plea for bail.

The Court had denied him bail stating that giving him bail even though he had committed the heinous crime, would send a wrong message.

“The act of the accused i.e. hate speech qua instigating abduction and killing of girls and persons of a particular religious community is itself a form of violence and such people and their inflammatory speeches are an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit,” the Court observed.

Significantly, the Court had stated the people who deliver such communally charged hate speeches and actively work towards creating disharmony in the society are more harmful than the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also Read: Special Court of NIA Discharges Akhil Gogoi in a Second Case relating to Anti-CAA Violence

Related Post