Telangana court clears AIMIM's Akbaruddin Owaisi in hate speech case

A court here on Wednesday acquitted AIMIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi in the "hate speech" cases filed against him in 2013, citing insufficient evidence.

Judge K Jaya Kumar of the special sessions court for trial of MPs/MLAs, who pronounced the verdict, observed that there was no sufficient evidence to prove the cases against the accused and gave him benefit of doubt.

Akbaruddin Owaisi, the younger brother of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi and floor leader of AIMIM in the Telangana Legislative Assembly, was present in the court when the judgement on his acquittal was delivered.

Akbaruddin allegedly used inflammatory and derogatory language against a community during his public speeches delivered at Telangana's Nizamabad on December 8, 2012 and at Nirmal town on December 22, 2012.

Subsequently, cases were registered against Akbaruddin on January 2, 2013 under Indian Penal Code Sections 153A (promoting enmity among people on grounds of religion), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), and other sections for making "hate" speeches. He was arrested and later released on bail.

Delivering the judgment, the court on Wednesday found him not guilty for the charges under relevant IPC sections and accordingly, acquitted him of the charges.

However, the judge orally told Akbaruddin not to repeat this type of provocative speech in future and also not to hold celebrations in such a way that may cause inconvenience to the general public.

The court noted that the video with alleged provocative speech which was produced by the police was not in sequence and lacked continuity (there was no chain-link in between the contents in the video of the alleged provocative speech) besides the speech footage submitted before the court was not in full and said it cannot be taken into consideration.

The Crime Investigation Department (CID) investigated the Nizamabad case and filed the chargesheet in 2016 while the district police which probed the Nirmal case also submitted the chargesheet in the same year.

A total of 41 witnesses were examined in the Nizamabad case while 33 people were examined in the Nirmal case. However, most of the independent witnesses turned hostile.

Defence counsel M A Azeem told reporters that as per observation of the court in both the cases, the prosecution was not able to prove the evidence against the accused and was given benefit of doubt.

Reacting to the judgment, the BJP in Telangana alleged that the TRS government colluded with the AIMIM, and “intentionally” did not submit proof to the court in the cases against Akbaruddin Owaisi leading to his acquittal.

The acquittal is surprising as the whole world has seen Akbaruddin Owaisi's “hate speech” against a community, state BJP president and MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar claimed in a statement.

"We don't find fault with the verdict given by the court in this matter. We are not attributing any bad intentions to the court. What the court requires is proof and evidence. But the state government did not intentionally submit proof. What more proof is required to show that the TRS government colluded with the AIMIM," Kumar said.

The BJP leader demanded that the state government should go for an appeal if it is sincere.

He also alleged that the then Congress government in 2009 had also diluted a case against Akbaruddin.

Meanwhile, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi hailed the acquittal of his younger brother.

“Alhamdulilah Akbaruddin Owaisi has been acquitted by MP/MLA Special Court in two criminal cases against him for alleged hate speeches. Grateful to all for their prayers & support. Special thanks to Advocate Abdul Azeem sb & senior lawyers who provided their valuable assistance,” Asaduddin Owaisi tweeted.

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