'Islamophobic posts': SC defers hearing on plea for probe to next week

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday posted for hearing next week a plea seeking a probe either by CBI or NIA against Twitter and its users for allegedly posting Islamophobic posts after Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Nizamuddin last year which for several weeks was dubbed as one of the reasons for spread of COVID-19. The apex court also asked the petitioner in the interim to peruse the new IT rules.

A bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and justice A S Bopanna, at the outset, asked lawyer Khaja Aijazuddin, who has filed the plea in his personal capacity, whether he had approached the Central government with the petition in which he has also sought a direction for framing guidelines under the Information Technology Act to curb spread of hate messages against any religious community including Islamophobic posts on various Social Media platforms .

Have you read the latest IT Rules, the bench asked the lawyer during the hearing conducted through video conferencing here. At one point the bench even wondered whether it would be wise to rake up issues that were already concluded, and would invite fresh controversies.

As Aijazuddin started reading the new IT Rules, pleading that his contentions were different from what were addressed in it, and the bench said it is posting the matter after a week and in the meantime, the petitioner may peruse the rules and come back prepared.

Aijazuddin's appeal was against an order of April 22 of the Telangana High Court asking him to approach the apex court for relief of seeking directions to the Centre to restrain all online social media networks in India and not to carry out any Islamophobic posts.

The plea also said with respect to the prayer for issuing directions to the Centre to register criminal complaint against Twitter and its users for allegedly spreading hatred , the High Court merely directed the Central government to consider the petition.

However, no clear direction regarding the same (registration of FIR) was given by the High Court, the plea alleged.

For background, a religious congregation held by Tablighi Jamaat organized at Nizamuddin here from March 13 to March 15 last year was used by many media outlets and even in government releases regarding Covid infection numbers, as one of the spreading points of COVID-19 in the country.

The plea alleged Islamophobic posts on various social media platforms were spread after the religious congregation showing believers of a particular faith in poor light. It may be recalled that several courts including the Bombay High Court had pulled up such labelling and offered protection to Tablighi volunteers from legal action on that score.

(With inputs from PTI)