Aurangzeb remarks: Court grants pre-arrest bail to SP MLA Abu Azmi | Mumbai news
MUMBAI: A sessions court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi, who was booked by the Marine Drive police over his remarks hailing Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. The court asked him to appear before the Marine Drive police on March 12, March 13, and March 15, for investigation.
The controversy erupted on March 3 when the MLA called Aurangzeb a “good administrator”, adding that during his reign, India’s border reached Afghanistan and Burma. “India was called a golden sparrow,” the MLA had claimed. He further claimed if Aurangzeb had destroyed temples, he also destroyed mosques.
Based on the remarks, an FIR was registered against Azmi in Thane based on a complaint filed by Lok Sabha member Naresh Mhaske for allegedly attempting to hurt religious feelings. The Thane police subsequently transferred the FIR to Mumbai, where a fresh case was registered at Marine Drive police station against Azmi.
The complainant had alleged that Azmi had hurt the religious feelings of the Hindu community by praising Aurangzeb, who was known to have destroyed Hindu temples as well as tortured Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj.
The bail plea filed through advocate Mubin Solkar observed that Azmi never made any derogatory remarks against the Maratha king or any other Hindu ruler. He “did not utter a single word which would outrage the religious feelings of the members of the Hindu community”. In the aftermath of the incident, Azmi released a video clarifying that his statement was based on the account of historians.
Azmi alleged that “certain political opponents and vested interests, are desirous of putting him behind bars to score brownie points and to derive political mileage” and are likely to exert pressure on police to arrest him. The plea observed that the FIR was filed by the rival political party, Shiv Sena, with an intention to settle political scores.
The sessions judge directed Azmi not to tamper with the evidence and to appear before the investigating officer on three days.
The Marine Drive police had registered a case against Azmi under sections 299 (deliberate and malicious acts that insult a religion or religious belief), 302 (deliberately hurting someone’s religious feelings), 356(1) (defamation) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita.
