Samajwadi MLC Swami Prasad Maurya booked over his Ramcharitmanas remarks

A senior police officer said, “We had received a complaint from a Lucknow resident about some remarks made by Mr Swami Prasad Maurya. A case has been lodged under relevant IPC sections and investigation is ongoing.”

The complaint, lodged by Shivendra Mishra, a resident of Lucknow’s Aishbagh says, “Through TV news channels newspapers and social media, I found out that on January 22, Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya made indecent and objectionable remarks about the Ramcharitmanas and that he said it is rubbish and should be banned. This statement will divide society on the basis of caste and religion and will lead to hatred between communities… There is anger among people over the statements by Maurya.”

The case against the OBC leader was lodged Sunday under sections 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage reli­gious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or reli­gious beliefs), 298 (Uttering, words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person), 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 505 (2) (Statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes), and 153-A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

On Monday, the Samajwadi Party distanced itself from the remarks made by Swami Prasad Maurya.

BJP state president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary Monday asked the SP to clarify whether it was Maurya’s individual belief or of the party. Chaudhary also said only an “insane” person can make such a comment.

Maurya had switched to the BJP from the BSP ahead of the 2017 polls. Five years later, he moved from the BJP to the SP ahead of the 2022 Assembly elections. After he lost in the elections, the SP got him elected to the Legislative Council.