New Delhi: The Supreme Court has dismissed a review petition filed by CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat seeking reconsideration of its earlier verdict that declined to direct the registration of an FIR against BJP MP Anurag Thakur over his alleged “goli maro” speech during the 2020 anti-CAA protests.

No ground to reconsider earlier verdict

A Bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta held that there was no apparent error in the April 29 judgment that warranted a review.

“We have gone through the review petition as well as the grounds in support thereof. We do not find any error, much less apparent, in the order impugned, warranting its reconsideration,” the Bench said in its July 29 order.

The court also rejected Karat’s request for an oral hearing in open court and dismissed all pending applications related to the matter.

Court clarifies law on prior sanction

In its April 29 judgment, the Supreme Court had partly allowed Karat’s appeal by disagreeing with the legal reasoning adopted by the Delhi High Court and the trial court regarding the requirement of prior sanction under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

The apex court clarified that prior sanction is required only at the stage when a court takes cognisance of an offence, and not for directing registration of an FIR or conducting an investigation under Section 156(3) CrPC.

It observed that making FIR registration dependent on prior sanction would be contrary to the statutory framework governing criminal investigations.

No cognisable offence made out

Despite correcting the legal position on prior sanction, the Supreme Court upheld the decision not to order an FIR after independently examining the material placed before it.

The court concluded that the speeches, the police status report and the findings of the lower courts did not disclose the commission of any cognisable offence.

The case originated from Brinda Karat’s plea seeking an FIR against Anurag Thakur and former BJP MP Pravesh Verma over their alleged hate speeches during the anti-CAA protests in January 2020. After the Delhi Police declined to register a case, she approached the trial court, followed by the Delhi High Court and eventually the Supreme Court.

With the dismissal of the review petition, the Supreme Court’s April 29 verdict remains unchanged.