Image Source: PTI
Guwahati, June 15: Internationally acclaimed author Arundhati Roy, along with former Kashmiri professor Sheikh Showkat Hussain, will face a trial under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, for making provocative speeches in 2010.
This reportedly comes eight months after Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena granted permission to prosecute them under Sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national-integration) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
“Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena has sanctioned the prosecution of Arundhati Roy and former Professor of International Law at the Central University of Kashmir, Dr. Sheikh Showkat Hussain, under Section 45(1) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the case,” a Raj Niwas official told the media.
It may be mentioned that an FIR was lodged in November 2010 by one Sushil Pandit against speakers who made ‘provocative speeches’ in a conference organised by the ‘Committee for Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP)’ under the banner of ‘Azadi-The Only Way’ at LTG Auditorium in New Delhi.
Roy and Hussain were accused of making provocative speeches at the conference on October 21, 2010.
