AGENCY
NEW DELHI, Apr 20
Jitendra Narayan Singh Tyagi, formerly Wasim Rizvi was acquitted by Haridwar Chief Judicial Magistrate court on Saturday in a hate speech case for doubtful and questionable charges against him.
Tyagi, former Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board chairman who was on bail, was arrested by the Haridwar Police on January 13, 2021 for an alleged hate speech he delivered at a religious congregation in December 2021. Haridwar Chief Judicial Magistrate Avinash Kumar Srivastava acquitted Jitendra Narayan Singh Tyagi in the the case filed against him, Swami Yati Narasimhananda, and others by the police after a Dharma Sansad (religious congregation) held between December 17 and December 19 2021.
While hearing the case on Saturday, the court found the allegations against Tyagi ‘doubtful and questionable’ and absolved him of all charges after a trial of more than three years. Two FIRs were filed by one, Nadeem Ali, against Wasim Rizvi alias Jitendra Narayan Singh Tyagi, Yeti Narasimhanand Giri, and others on December 23, 2021 and January 2, 2022 for their religious rants against Muslims and Quran. Ali had alleged that Tyagi and Narsimhanand made hate speeches against Prophet Mohammed and the Quran and gave a call to wage war against Muslims.
Ali, in his FIR, had charged that Hindu religious leaders gathered for dharma sansad (religious congregation) demanded to indict Muslims in false cases and punish them. Tyagi and Narsimhanand were booked under Section 153A for allegations for promoting enmity between religious groups and under Section 298 for making statements aimed at hurting the religious sentiments of someone of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Dharm Sansad. Videos of the Tyagi, Narsimhanand and other Hindu religious leaders had gone viral as to their speeches made at the Haridwar congregation.
After investigating into the matter, the Haridwar Police arrested Jitendra Narayan Singh Tyagi alias Wasim Rizvi and sent him to jail. However, he was granted bail more than four months after the arrest on health grounds. During the hearing, 10 witnesses were presented in evidence on behalf of the prosecution.
