'If you ignore this, then one day it will come for you,' SC on hate crimes

'If you ignore this, then one day it will come for you,' the Supreme Court said

The Supreme Court on Monday slammed the Uttar Pradesh police over delay in lodging FIR in a hate crime, saying in a secular country, there is no space for such offences on basis of religion.

The court also reminded the authorities by warning them that if you ignored it, one day it would come for you.

"It is the primary duty of the state (to protect the citizens). It is said he was wearing the cap...When such crimes are not acted against then an atmosphere is fostered which is a dangerous issue and it has to be rooted out from our lives," a bench of Justices K M Joseph and B V Nagarathna said.

The court was hearing a plea by a 62-year-old, Kazeem Ahmad Sherwani, who claimed to be a victim of an alleged hate crime at Noida in July 2021. He sought action against those who tortured him and against the police officers who refused to take action.

The court castigated the Uttar Pradesh government, represented by Additional Advocate General Garima Prasad and told it that the incident cannot be swept under the carpet.

"Will you not acknowledge that there is a hate crime and you will sweep it under the carpet? We are only expressing our anguish. Be it in minority or majority, certain rights are there which are inherent in human beings. You are born into a family and raised in one; but we stand out as a nation. You have to take this seriously," the bench told her.

Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi for the petitioner contended the state government declined to acknowledge the matter as a hate crime and act promptly.

Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj, for Delhi police, on the contrary, submitted that there were injuries to him due to resistance.

The bench then retorted, "Let us not deny that there indeed exists people in this country who have communal attitude and they usually do it."

The ASG contended just because the petitioner belonged to one community, it does not make it a hate crime.

"If you ignore this, then one day it will come for you. There is no problem for the protected class, but it affects the common man, we cannot compromise on their security," the bench said, adding solutions can be found only when you recognise the problem.

The court asked the Uttar Pradesh police to provide details within two weeks as to when the accused in June 2021 incident were apprehended and when they were bailed out.

Sherwani claimed that he has been "the victim of a dastardly hate crime in Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida), Uttar Pradesh," wherein he was "abused, tortured and systematically stripped of his dignity by a group of individuals on July 4, 2021.

Earlier, too the bench had expressed its displeasure over state's failure to lodge cases against those accused of hate crimes and speeches during religious congregations.