GUWAHATI, May 29: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has, in an affidavit, submitted before the Gauhati High Court recently stating that he had been accused of hate speeches based on “photocopies of news clippings that extract isolated lines capable of distorting his true intent”.
The affidavit was submitted in response to public interest litigation (PIL) pleas seeking action against his alleged hate speeches directed at minority communities.
The chief minister, in his affidavit, raised serious doubts regarding the genuineness of the materials relied upon by the petitioners, a report stated.
According to the report, the chief minister stated that extracting selective portions from an interview could distort the true meaning and purport of the statements and may create an impression wholly different from what was intended or conveyed.
Sarma, while stating he is not in a position to effectively controvert the pleas averments without perusing the originals, requested the Court to direct the petitioners to produce the original, full and unedited transcripts or recordings of the alleged interviews and statements so that he could provide a meaningful reply.
He further alleged that reporters/authors of the news pieces have made their comments, interpretations and editorial observations while selectively quoting him, apparently with the intent and effect of maligning his reputation.
The chief minister said the criminal justice system has already been set in motion in response to the allegations.
The affidavit was filed on Wednesday before a bench of Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar and Justice Arun Dev Choudhury, which took the same on record and posted the matter for hearing on August 6.
The bench directed that the full transcripts of the speeches quoted in the petition be filed for the convenience of the Court.
“The PILs, filed by Assamese scholar Hiren Gohain and two others, seek directions to restrain chief minister Sarma from making alleged hate speeches and for the initiation of an inquiry and/or investigation into the alleged commission of cognisable offence/s under various sections of BNS,” the report stated.
The Court had, while hearing the petitions on April 21, granted Sarma further four weeks’ time to file his response to the pleas.
