New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday decided to continue monitoring the Uttar Pradesh Police investigation into the 2021 hate crime against elderly Muslim man Kazeem Ahmad Sherwani in Noida, observing that the probe had finally begun to make progress after earlier lapses in the investigation.
A Bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta directed the Uttar Pradesh government to complete the process of obtaining sanction for the chargesheet within four weeks. The direction came after Additional Solicitor General K.M. Nataraj informed the court that the investigating agency had already forwarded the chargesheet to the competent authority for approval.
Taking note of the development, the Bench observed that the investigation had started moving forward and declined to dispose of the petition, choosing instead to retain judicial oversight of the case. The matter has been posted for further hearing on August 17.
During the hearing, counsel for the petitioner pointed out that nearly five years had elapsed since the incident and submitted that the departmental inquiry against the officials concerned was still pending. The petitioner also sought compensation, relying on the Supreme Court's guidelines dealing with hate crimes.
The case relates to an alleged hate crime in Noida involving Sherwani, a Delhi resident who was travelling to Aligarh. He alleged that a group of Hindu men offered him a lift before abusing him and pulling his beard.
The Supreme Court had earlier expressed dissatisfaction with the police investigation after it found that the FIR did not include provisions relating to hate speech. The Uttar Pradesh government had subsequently acknowledged the omission, following which the court directed the police to invoke Sections 153B and 295A of the Indian Penal Code.
However, during a later hearing, Sherwani's counsel informed the Bench that Section 153B had again been dropped despite the court's earlier directions. Questioning the conduct of the investigating officer, the Bench had criticised the failure to comply with its observations.
The State had then submitted that the provision could still be added at the stage of filing the chargesheet.
The petitioner's counsel also alleged that significant portions of Sherwani's statement had been omitted from the investigation records, including details of the alleged assault beyond the removal of his cap.
Earlier, expressing dissatisfaction with the State's compliance affidavit, the Supreme Court had observed that it was not satisfied with the manner in which the investigation was being conducted. Although the Bench had initially indicated that it might summon the investigating officer, it deferred the move after the State sought additional time to comply with its directions.
Earlier this year, while hearing a batch of petitions relating to hate speech, the Supreme Court clarified that Sherwani's case involved separate issues requiring independent consideration. Although the Union government argued that the matter had become infructuous since the trial had already commenced, the court decided to keep the petition pending and continue monitoring the investigation.