NEW DELHI, June 22 � The Supreme Court will hear BJP leader Subramanian Swamy�s plea challenging the non-bailable warrant issued against him by a court in Assam, in July. A non-bailable warrant was issued against him over his controversial comments that mosques were not religious structures.
A vacation bench of Justice MY Eqbal and Justice Arun Mishra directed listing the matter for hearing in the first week of July before an appropriate bench after Swamy sought adjournment pleading that counsel Ram Jethmalani representing him in the case, was abroad.
Swamy said he has challenged the constitutional validity of the Indian Penal Code�s sections 153(a) and 295(a), contending that they were vaguely worded and were prone to be misused, like Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, which was recently read down by the apex court.
Section 153(a) provides for punishment for promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony, while Section 295(a) provides for punishment for deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.
