By Scroll Staff
Petitioners seeking action against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told the Gauhati High Court on Tuesday that the Bharatiya Janata Party leader had continued to make “religiously provocative, incendiary and needless comments” even after notices were issued to him, reported Live Law.
Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the petitioners, said that Sarma’s “entire thought process is reserved for a minority only”.
The High Court granted four more weeks to the Assam government and the BJP leader to respond to the petitions seeking action against him for hate speech.
On his part, Singhvi said that “a constitutional functionary is supposed to maintain peace and balance”, reported Live Law.
“In his eyes, there is no regulatory, judicial, adjudicatory framework at all,” added Singhvi.
The advocate also filed a note before the bench referring to fresh remarks made by Sarma in March and April, highlighting that the Bharatiya Janata Party leader continued to use the term “Miya”.
The petitioner urged the court to pass interim orders to restrict his speeches. The court did not accept the request and held that it must wait for Sarma’s response in the matter.
However, the court verbally told the state’s counsel that a response in the matter cannot be evaded.
The matter will now be heard on May 28.
Since January, Sarma has made a series of remarks targeting Bengali-origin Muslims in Assam, calling them “Miyas”. The BJP leader had said that it was his job to “make them suffer”.
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