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During the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections campaign, the Congress leader had said for CM Yogi Adityanath- “Rishte me ham unke Baap Lagte hai". However, before the court, Khurshid clarified that he had no malafide intention, and the remark was made in a lighter vein.
The Allahabad High Court has recently quashed the entire proceedings in the case registered against Congress leader Salman Khurshid for this remark against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during the electioneering for Lok Sabha Election 2019.
In response to a question posed by a journalist as to what was Khurshid's response to Yogi's comment that he was a sympathizer of Batla House accused/terrorists, Khurshid had uttered a dialogue from the Bollywood film 'Shahenshah' that 'Rishte me ham unke Baap Lagte hai".
The single judge bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh noted that through a personal affidavit, Khurshid had already expressed his regret on the said comment and had clarified that the statement was made in a lighter vein without any intention to be disrespectful to the Chief Minister.
Therefore, considering Khurshid's submission that he never intended to hurt the feelings and sentiments of anyone or Yogi Adityanath, court opined that the impugned proceedings should be quashed.
“Regret is tough but fair teacher. To live without regret is to believe you have nothing to learn, no amends to make, and no opportunity to be braver with your life,” said the court while observing that sometimes in a spur of the moment, a person utters something with no intention to hurt feelings and sentiments of others, and if such person regrets for making such a statement, the court should take a larger view of the matter and quash the proceedings.
For his statement, a case was registered under Sections 153 A, 171-G of the Indian Penal Code and Section 125 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 at Farrukhabad Kotwali Police Station in Fatehgarh district of Uttar Pradesh.
The chargesheet was filed against the Congress leader on August 6, 2019, and the trial court passed the cognizance/summoning order on September 3, 2019. At present, the case was pending in the court of Special Judge (SC/ST Act), Farrukhabad.
Khurshid filed the present application under Section 482 CrPC before the high court seeking relief. He urged the court to quash the chargesheet as well as the cognizance/summoning order.
To support his case, Khurshid filed a personal affidavit where he stated that the statement made by him had no real malafide meaning attached to it which in totality and circumstances was on a lighter side with no intention whatsoever to have hurt anyone's sentiment.
"...However if any person feels hurt the deponent solemnly expresses regret,” his affidavit stated.
Case Title: Salman Khurshid v. State of U.P. and Another
Statute: Sections 153 A, 171-G of the Indian Penal Code and Section 125 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951
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