Prophet remarks row: Plea in SC seeking arrest of Nupur Sharma withdrawn

New Delhi, Sep 09: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a petition seeking directions to the authorities to act and arrest suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for her alleged controversial statement o Prophet Mohammad and hurting sentiments of the Muslim community. The matter was heard by bench comprising Chief Justice U.U. Lalit, Justice Ravindra Bhat and Justice P.S. Narasimha.

When the bench expressed disinclination to entertain the plea under Article 32 seeking arrest, the counsel appearing for the petitioner highlighted the alternate prayer which seeks implementation of the directions in the Tehseen Ponnawalla judgment in relation to control of mob lynching.

According to LiveLaw, the apex court said,"...This may sound simple and innocuous but it has far reaching consequences. The court should circumspect while issuing directions. We would suggest you to withdraw."

Accordingly, the matter was withdrawn and dismissed as such.

The petition filed by Advocate Abu Sohel through Advocate Chand Qureshi sought directions for 'independent, credible and impartial investigation' into the incident. The Supreme Court had earlier transferred to Delhi Police all FIRs registered against (and which may be registered in future) Nupur Sharma in different parts of the country over her remarks on Prophet Mohammed on the channel debate aired by "Times Now" on May 26.