3 months ago
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The Supreme Court connected Monday (February 16, 2026) recovered “no bully reason” to entertain a bid of petitions seeking a transgression investigation against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for serially indulging successful communal speeches and for a societal media post, since deleted, depicting him discharging a firearm toward an animated representation of 2 visibly Muslim men.
Instead, a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant asked the petitioners, including the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India, to attack the State High Court contempt the petitioners pointing retired that Mr. Sarma was the “boss of Assam”.
The apex tribunal declined to entertain the petition though agreeing with the petitioners that nary governmental person oregon law office-holders should behaviour himself successful a mode which would harm the secular ethos and morality enshrined successful the Constitution, particularly erstwhile elections were closing in.
The petitioner-parties person accused Mr. Sarma of indulging successful a “sustained signifier of hatred speeches”. They said the societal media post, circulated successful the nationalist domain arsenic a video, connected February 7, 2026 from the “official grip of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Assam connected X (formerly Twitter), namely, ‘BJP Assam Pradesh’ (@BJP4Assam) and thereafter wide disseminated, has been the astir blatant and disturbing manifestation of the signifier complained of”.
The petition said that the video was removed from the nationalist domain pursuing terrible backlash. However, the worldly continued to beryllium wide circulated and disseminated done aggregate different accounts and platforms.
Reining successful a bigot: On the Assam Chief Minister’s incendiary rhetoric
The petitioners, led by elder advocates AM Singhvi, CU Singh and advocator Nizam Pasha, submitted that Mr. Sarma, portion holding the Constitutional bureau of the Chief Minister of the State of Assam, gave speeches which “target, terrorise, and instigate hostility and overt unit against the Muslim assemblage residing successful Assam”.
Mr. Singh said the Assam Chief Minister had fixed akin “hate speeches” successful different States, including Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. Mr. Singhvi described the behaviour of Mr. Sarma arsenic “habitual”.
The Supreme Court requested the Gauhati High Court Chief Justice to expeditiously database and perceive the petitions, if they are filed earlier the High Court.
The CJI complained that “every matter” is straight filed earlier the Supreme Court by parties who disregard the wide powers of the High Courts. “Whatever the Supreme Court tin do, the High Courts tin besides do,” Chief Justice Kant pointed out.
Mr. Singhvi said the contented raised successful the petitions were not “every matter”, but acrophobic a Constitutional office-holder, nary little than the caput of the State government, allegedly indulging successful hatred code and communal incitement.
The CJI said High Courts would beryllium demoralised with petitions bypassing them to travel consecutive to the Supreme Court.
“But specified radical [Sarma] demoralise the country… His speeches and behaviour are a brazen onslaught connected the ethos of the state and the sanctity of his Constitutional office. The Supreme Court is not barred from taking a petition straight nether Article 32 of the Constitution. It is the discretion of the Supreme Court,” Mr. Singhvi submitted.
The Chief Justice said it would beryllium convenient for some parties to determination Gauhati High Court portion Mr. Singhvi pointed retired that “convenience” was a debased threshold to garbage a nationalist involvement petition highlighting an contented of specified a nature.
Chief Justice Kant urged the petitioners to person religion successful the “system”.
