Delhi court orders police to lodge FIR against Geelani, Roy

NEW DELHI - A Delhi metropolitan magistrate court on Saturday ordered the Delhi Police to lodge an FIR against Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, writer Arundhati Roy and five others for allegedly making anti-India speeches.

Metropolitan Magistrate Navita Kumari Bagha also directed the Delhi police today to file a report at the next hearing on January 6.

The court rejected the status report submitted by the Delhi Police on a complaint filed with them on October 28 by Sushil Pandit seeking registration of FIR against Roy and Geelani. It said there were prime facie evidence against the accused and asked the police to further investigate the allegations and file a compliance report.

Reacting to the Delhi court’s order, Roy said that she would prefer to wait for the FIR to be registered.

Besides Geelani and Roy, the complaint sought prosecution of five others, including Delhi University professor S A R Geelani, who was acquitted in Parliament attack case, and Sheikh Showkat Hussain, a professor of Jammu and Kashmir University.

According to the complaint, the accused made the comments at a convention in New Delhi in October on “Azadi-The Only Way”. Hurriyat leader Geelani shared the dais with Roy and pro-Maoist leader Vara Vara Rao among others. The audience heckled Geelani. (ANI)