Just days after an order by a local court, the Saidabad police in Hyderabad registered a case against All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi.
Owaisi has now been booked under Sections 153(A) (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), 153(B) (Imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 506 (Criminal Intimidation) of the IPC.
The case has been registered over alleged inflammatory remarks made by Owaisi at a public meeting on July 23 in Karimnagar town.
On December 22, 2012, Owaisi had addressed a massive rally in (then Andhra Pradesh’s) Nirmal town, He was arrested in January 2013 on charges of hate speech, and granted conditional bail after 40 days in prison.
Earlier this month, the 14th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court had issued orders to the Saidabad police, to investigate a complaint by an advocate associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and register a case and file a status report by December 23.
The advocate had moved court, stating that the police were not investigating his complaint. In his petition, he also sought that Owaisi’s conditional bail be canceled.
Owaisi’s remarks earlier this year had also resulted in a similar complaint being filed in Karimnagar town at the time. The Karimnagar 3-Town police have also booked him under the same sections as the Saidabad police and is investigating the issue.
As a video of the recent speech also went viral, Akbaruddin Owaisi issued a statement on July 26, where he said, “My speech doesn’t constitute any offense; I have not contravened any provision of law.”
Akbaruddin Owaisi is the younger brother of Hyderabad MP and AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi.
