NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to firebrand seer Yati Narsinghanand for his alleged contemptuous and disparaging remarks against the judiciary upon his release on bail in a hate speech case.
A bench of Justices A S Bopanna and M M Sundresh sought a response from Narsinghanand, the head priest of Dasna temple at Ghaziabad, on a contempt petition filed by Mumbai based activist Shachi Nelli.
Senior advocate Nithya Ramakrishnan, appearing for Nelli said that consent has been received by then Attorney General K K Venugopal to file a contempt petition.
The court had earlier asked Nelli to file the transcript containing alleged derogatory remarks against the judiciary.
The petitioner has filed a contempt petition against Narasinghanand, claiming his comments undermined the majesty of the institution and the authority vested in the Supreme Court.
"Any such attempt to harm the majesty of the institution and diminish the faith that citizens of India have in the court can result in complete chaos and anarchy. This is perhaps the most vicious attack on the Supreme Court in its history," her plea claimed.
The seer has been under judicial custody after his arrest in Haridwar Dharm Sansad case related to alleged hate speech.
In response to a letter by Nelli seeking contempt proceeding against Narsinghanand, Venugopal had said I have gone through your letter and watched the video of the statements made by Yati Narsinghanand. I find that the statement made by Yati Narsinghanand, that those who believed in this system, in these politicians, in the Supreme Court, and in the army will all die the death of a dog, is a direct attempt to lower the authority of the Supreme Court in the minds of the general public.
A consent by the Attorney General or the Solicitor General is a statutory requirement under Section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 and under the Rules to Regulate Proceedings for Contempt of the Supreme Court of India, 1975 for initiation of such proceedings in the top court.
After the interview by Narsinghanand went viral on social media platform Twitter, Nelli wrote a letter to the AG, saying the comments made by him tried to undermine the majesty of the institution and the authority vested in the Supreme Court.
Narsinghanand had made those statements in response to questions in connection with the court proceedings in the Haridwar hate speech cases.
