Sharjeel Usmani, former student of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has been charged with sedition in Lucknow after his speech at the Elgar Parishad held in Pune on January 30.
After his speech, Pune police had registered an FIR against him on February 2, after BJP member Pradip Gavade filed a complaint, under the charge of ‘promoting enmity between different groups’.
While the Pune FIR does not invoke the charge of Sedition, the one that has been subsequently filed in Lucknow, does. The FIR in Lucknow’ Hazratganj police station has been filed at the instance of one Anuraj Singh who states that the speech delivered by Usmani propagates hatred against UP Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath. The Lucknow FIR invokes other charges under section 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups), 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 298 (uttering words with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings) of the IPC.
The Home Minister of Maharashtra, Anil Deshmukh posted a tweet stating that Usmani will be arrested from wherever he is.
Police have investigated the video clippings of the Elgar event held on 30th in Pune& a case has been registered against Sharjeel Usmani for his offensive remarks. He is not currently in MH but we will arrest him from whichever state he is in be it Bihar, UP,Gujarat or elsewhere.
— ANIL DESHMUKH (@AnilDeshmukhNCP) February 3, 2021
Usmani had been earlier arrested in July 2020 after being charged with attempt to murder, rioting, carrying deadly weapons and causing hurt to public servants, after the violence that broke out on AMU campus on December 15, 2019, during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest. He was granted bail in September 2020 by the District court stating that Usmani was not arrested from the scene of the crime, and no incriminating evidence was found on him at the time of arrest.
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