Swamy ‘hate speech’: Govt backtracks on its stand on book

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“Charges levelled against the petitioner (Swamy) will be decided by the court concerned and that deponent is not expressing any opinion thereon. The contents of para 11 of the Counter Affidavit may therefore be permitted to be deleted,” the MHA said in the latest affidavit.

In its first affidavit dated October 28, the MHA had told the apex court that Swamy violated IPC provisions with his writing and made a “hate speech against a community of India”.

Swamy, following registration of various cases against him under Section 153A and similar IPC provisions relating to hate speech, had moved SC, challenging the validity of Section 153A and similar provisions on the ground that they violated the right to freedom of speech.

On Wednesday, the MHA filed a two page-additional affidavit, contending that the earlier affidavit is “in no way the conception” of the ministry regarding Swamy’s book, and that the book is the subject matter of legal challenge before trial courts.

It also said submissions in the previous affidavit are related only to validity of legal provisions relating to hate speech. The third affidavit was filed on Friday, seeking a complete deletion of the paragraph relating to Swamy’s book. The case has to come up for hearing in January.