The Supreme Court’s (SC) judgment holding that Anurag Thakur, then a Minister of State in the Finance Ministry, and Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, MP, did not commit a cognisable offence of hate speech in January 2020 is both surprising and deeply disappointing. We often hear that the process itself becomes the punishment. This case raises the opposite concern: Can the process be such as to lead to no punishment at all — especially when those involved occupy positions of power?

On January 30, 2020, the Election Commission debarred Thakur and Verma from campaigning for violating the MCC and the Representation of the People Act. Thakur, attacking the anti-CAA protests, described the movement as anti-national and ended with the slogan: “Desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro saalon ko.” Verma, referring to the same protest, warned that “they will abduct and rape your daughters”. In criminal-law terms, the speeches fall squarely within the ambit of Sections 153A, 153B, 295A and 505 of the IPC.

Yet, the Delhi Police saw no offence. They took no action on the joint complaint filed by my late colleague K M Tewari and myself — even before the EC’s order — forcing us to approach the trial court. The court sought an action taken report from the Delhi Police, which set up an inquiry under the Crime Branch. Its........

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