SC stays FIR filed against ‘Mohammed’ Deepak for confronting Bajrang Dal

The Supreme Court on Monday stayed a case against Dehradun gym owner Deepak Kumar, who had opposed the harassment of an elderly Muslim shopkeeper by alleged Bajrang Dal members in January, Live Law reported.

The bench also stayed the Uttarakhand High Court’s March order restraining Kumar from commenting on social media about the case against him.

It issued notice on Kumar’s petition challenging the High Court’s refusal to quash the first information report against him.

The incident took place on January 26 when alleged Bajrang Dal members had come to the shop of an elderly Muslim man, Vakeel Ahmed, in Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal district, objecting to him using the word “Baba” in the name of his establishment.

Kumar and another person, Vijay Rawat, objected to the mob’s actions, after which the two Hindu men were asked not to intervene.

The FIR against Kumar and Rawat was registered in late January based on a complaint by two persons who are members of the Bajrang Dal and the Vishva Hindu Parishad. The FIR invoked charges of rioting, causing hurt and intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace.

The Bajrang Dal and the Vishva Hindu Parishad are part of a group of Hindutva outfits led by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the parent organisation of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

The members of the Hindutva...

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