Delhi L-G allows Arundhati Roy to be prosecuted under UAPA in 2010 case

Delhi LG sanctions prosecution of Arundhati Roy and Dr. Sheikh Showkat Hussain for alleged seditious statements in 2010.

Delhi Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena on Friday sanctioned the prosecution of novelist Arundhati Roy, for allegedly provocative statements made at a 2010 event propagating Kashmiri separatism, under Section 13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, according to Raj Niwas officials. The L-G had already sanctioned prosecution under several sections of the Indian Penal Code last year.

The L-G also sanctioned the prosecution under UAPA of Sheikh Showkat Hussain, former Professor of International Law at the Central University of Kashmir, for his alleged statements at the same event, a conference organised in New Delhi’s LTG auditorium in 2010 under the banner of ‘Azadi - The Only Way’.

Section 13 of the UAPA deals with advocating, abetting or inciting any unlawful activity and is punishable with imprisonment for up to seven years.

The FIR against Ms. Roy and Dr. Hussain was registered in October 2010, on the basis of a complaint by Sushil Pandit, following the orders of the Court of the Metropolitan Magistrate, New Delhi. The other two accused in the case — Sayed Ali Shah Geelani, a Kashmiri separatist leader and Syed Abdul Rahman Geelani, a Delhi University lecturer — have both died over the course of the proceedings.

Last October, the L-G had granted sanction to prosecute the accused under Section 196 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, for the commission of offences punishable under different Sections of the IPC, including 124-A (provisions for sedition), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 153-B (imputation, assertions, prejudicial to national integration), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), and 505 (statements conducing of public mischief).