4 Assamese Individuals Approach Supreme Court Seeking FIR & SIT Probe Against CM Himanta Biswa Sarma For Hate Speech Offences

Another writ petition has been filed before the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution seeking urgent intervention against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over a series of alleged hate speeches targeting a minority community in the State.The petitioners include Dr Hiren Gohain, a retired professor and public intellectual; Harekrishna Deka, former Director General of Police of Assam; Paresh Chandra Malakar, Editor-in-Chief of Northeast Now; and senior advocate Santanu Borthakur. They contend that the Chief Minister has repeatedly made statements that incite discrimination, social and economic boycott and violence against Bengali-origin Muslims in Assam.Advocate Rupali Samuel mentioned the matter before the Chief Justice of India Surya Kant seeking urgent listing. She requested that the petition be listed along with an earlier petition on the same issue, which the CJI agreed to list. Yesterday, the petitions filed by CPI(M) and CPI seeking FIR and court-monitored SIT investigation against Sarma was mentioned before the CJI.The present petition alleges that Sarma has, through public speeches, press interactions and social media posts, promoted enmity and hatred on grounds of religion, language, place of birth and residence. It claims that he used expressions such as “Miya” and “Bangladeshi”, described in the plea as derogatory slurs against Bengali-origin Muslims in Assam, and called for social and economic boycott of the community.According to the petition, on January 25 and 27, 2026, while commenting on the ongoing summary revision of electoral rolls in Assam, Sarma made statements suggesting that notices under the revision exercise were being served selectively and that “Miya votes” should be curtailed. The plea further alleges that he admitted to having directed party workers to file complaints against members of the minority community with the intention of causing harassment.The petition also refers to a statement attributed to the Chief Minister in which he allegedly called upon people to “give trouble” to the community and to create conditions in which they would be unable to continue living in Assam. It cites remarks advocating non-cooperation and “civil disobedience” against the targeted group and calling for denial of land, vehicles and livelihood opportunities to them.In another instance, the plea refers to a video posted on the X handle of the Assam state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party on February 7, 2026, depicting Sarma holding a gun and using the words “point blank shoot” in a context said to target persons dressed in attire associated with the minority community.The petitioners argue that despite widely disseminated speeches that prima facie disclose offences relating to promotion of enmity and incitement to violence, no suo motu FIR has been registered by the State authorities. They contend that the inaction of the law enforcement machinery, particularly when the alleged perpetrator holds the highest executive office in the State, creates a climate of impunity and chills victims and witnesses.The plea cites Tehseen S. Poonawalla v. Union of India (2018) and subsequent orders in Shaheen Abdulla v. Union of India, to submit that once speech crosses into hate speech, the response of the State cannot be discretionary and that authorities are duty-bound to register FIRs even in the absence of a formal complaint.The petition seeks a complete cessation of alleged hate speech by the Chief Minister and his associates. It prays for strong action against him for violation of his constitutional oath under Article 164(3) read with the Third Schedule.Among the reliefs sought are directions for initiation of investigation or inquiry by a Special Investigation Team, or alternatively, the constitution of a commission chaired by a former judge of the Supreme Court to supervise and monitor the investigation and suggest further legal remedies.The petition contends that immediate intervention of the Supreme Court is necessary to prevent further escalation of communal tensions and to ensure that the constitutional guarantees of equality, non-discrimination, dignity and life under Articles 14, 15, 19 and 21 are not reduced to “dead letters”.The petition was filed through AoR Yash Vijay. Case : Dr. Hiren Gohain and others v. Union of India and others.

4 Assamese Individuals Approach Supreme Court Seeking FIR & SIT Probe Against CM Himanta Biswa Sarma For Hate Speech Offences

Anmol Kaur Bawa

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