Delhi LG approves UAPA prosecution of Arundhati Roy
PTC News Desk: According to Raj Niwas authorities, Delhi lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Friday approved the prosecution of novelist Arundhati Roy under the strict Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for her alleged "provocative" statement at an event in 2010.
The prosecution of Arundhati Roy and Dr. Sheikh Showkat Hussain, a former professor of international law at the Central University of Kashmir, under section 45 (1) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act has been approved by Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, according to a Raj Niwas official.
In October of last year, Saxena authorized the prosecution of Roy and Sheikh Showkat Hussain, a former lecturer at the Central University of Kashmir, for offenses covered by section 196 of the CrPC. These offenses are punishable under several parts of the Indian Penal Code.
The Raj Niwas official claimed that "the issues discussed and spoken about at the conference propagated the separation of Kashmir from India."
Along with Roy and Sheikh Showkat Hussain, SAR Geelani (the Conference's anchor and primary defendants in the case of the Parliament attack), Varavara Rao, and late Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani also gave addresses.
Kashmiri activist Sushil Pandit was the complainant in a case brought before the Metropolitan Magistrate Court in New Delhi under Section 156(3) of the CrPC. The complaint was resolved on November 27, 2010, with a directive to file a formal complaint.
The complainant produced recordings of Geelani and Arundhati Roy allegedly fervently advocating that Kashmir was never a part of India and that the Armed Forces of India had forcibly occupied the region and that every effort should be made to separate J-K from India.
The officers said, "as a result, a FIR was filed and an investigation was conducted."
Roy has been an outspoken opponent of the Modi administration on a number of fronts.
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- With inputs from agencies
