Delhi Lieutenant-Governor V K Saxena sanctioned the prosecution of former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leader Shehla Rashid for her tweets on the Indian Army, as per officials on Tuesday.
The sanction is related to a 2019 FIR against the former JNUSU vice-president, under IPC section 153A, registered at Special Cell police station in New Delhi, on the basis of a complaint by one Alakh Alok Srivastava, according to officials at the LG office.
Rashid is accused of promoting enmity between different groups and indulging in acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony through her tweets, they said. Rashid was booked for her tweets accusing the armed forces of ransacking houses and creating an environment of fear in Kashmir. Her allegations were rejected by the army which said, such “unverified and fake news are spread by inimical elements and organizations to incite unsuspecting population,” as per Hindustan Times.
The proposal for the prosecution sanction was moved by the Delhi Police and supported by Home Department of the Delhi government, the LG office said.
The Delhi government’s home department in its opinion on the matter said the nature of the case, the location to which the tweets refer, and false allegations against the army make it a serious issue, as per officials quoted by Hindustan Times.
“Not every tweet is to be proceeded with, under criminal law. But the tweet of the kind in this case needs to be processed against religious fault-lines have been created in J&K [Jammu & Kashmir] by the likes of Shehla Rashid,” the department said. “The case is made of for prosecution u/s 153A IPC [Indian Penal Code]. This relates to public order.”
The LG granted the sanction under the Code of Criminal Procedure’s Section 196 that relates to offences against the state.
(With inputs from PTI)
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