Nainital, Oct 29 (PTI) The Uttarakhand High Court has directed the Nainital police to take action against Ramnagar BJP leader Madan Joshi for allegedly conspiring to incite communal violence, and to submit
a report to it within seven days.
The order came in response to a protection petition filed with it by Noorjahan, the wife of Nasir, the driver, who was beaten on October 23 in Chhoi over allegations of beef transportation.
Noorjahan's counsel, Advocate Mrinal Kanwar, informed the court that Joshi had been repeatedly posting and going live on Facebook with inflammatory content before the violence broke out.
Madan Joshi, Raju Rawat, Sagar Manral, Pankaj, and Karan, along with 20 to 30 unnamed persons, were booked in an FIR filed on Noor Jahan's complaint.
The court directed the police to ensure that neither Joshi nor any of his followers post any provocative material on social media. It also ordered that all inflammatory posts made by Joshi be removed from Facebook.
The police informed the court that the meat being transported in the vehicle in Chhoi that day was buffalo's, and a licence and food safety certificate had been issued for it by a supplier from Bareilly.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice G Narendra and Justice Subhash Upadhyay ordered the police to strictly comply with the Supreme Court's guidelines issued in the Tehseen Poonawalla case regarding mob violence, and not to succumb to any political pressure.
Earlier, during the hearing in the morning, the police had sought time until 2 pm to submit their report.
At 2 pm, the Nainital police informed the court that two individuals had been arrested in the case and more would follow. PTI DPT VN
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