Attorney General K K Venugopal on Friday granted consent to initiate contempt proceedings against 'Dharam Sansad' leader Yati Narsinghanand over his alleged remarks against the Constitution and the Supreme Court.
The consent has been granted in response to a letter by an activist, Shachi Nelli, seeking to initiate contempt against Yati Narsinghanand for his statements in an interview that went viral on Twitter on the January 14.
As per Section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act, the nod of the Attorney General or the Solicitor General is a condition precedent to set the criminal contempt proceedings in motion before the apex court.
I find that the statement made by Yati Narsinganand... is a direct attempt to lower the authority of the Supreme Court in the minds of the general public. This would certainly amount to contempt of the Supreme Court of India. I accordingly grant consent to initiate proceedings for criminal contempt of the Supreme Court of India, the AG said.
Narsinghanad is in custody after his arrest by the Uttarakhand police over his anti-Muslim hate speeches at the Haridwar 'Dharam Sansad'.
In the letter, Nelli claimed that Narsinghanand made a vile and clear attempt at interfering in the course of justice by means of abusive rhetoric and baseless attacks on the integrity of the Constitution and the courts.