Delhi L-G VK Saxena grants permission to prosecute Shehla Rashid for offensive tweets against Indian Army

Shehla Rashid tweets row: The Home Department, in its observations on the case, said, “The nature of the case, location to which the tweets refers and making false allegations against the Army makes it a serious issue. Not every tweet is to be proceeded with, under criminal law.”

New Delhi: In a major development, Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Tuesday granted sanction to prosecute Shehla Rashid Shora, former vice president of the JNU Students` Union and member of AISA, for her offensive tweets against the Indian Army. Shehla Rashid’s two tweets were aimed at promoting enmity between different groups and indulging in acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony, said the L-G office on Tuesday. The L-G’s office confirmed that he has granted the prosecution sanction under the relevant section 196 of CrPC 1973.

According to Raj Niwas sources, the prosecution sanction was related to a case registered against Rashid on September 3, 2019, under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) by the Delhi Police Special Cell on the basis of a complaint made by an advocate, Alakh Alok Srivastava.

Delhi LG VK Saxena grants prosecution sanction against Shehla Rashid, ex-Vice President of JNUSU & member of AISA, for making 2 tweets about the Indian Army aimed at promoting enmity between different groups & indulging in acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony: LG Office — ANI (@ANI) January 10, 2023

The proposal to this effect moved by the Delhi Police and supported by the Home Department, GNCTD, had mentioned the following facts, "On 18.08.2019, one Shehla Rashid, resident of Kashmir, made following two tweets about the Indian Army:- "Armed Forces are entering houses at night, picking up boys, ransacking houses, deliberately spilling rations on floor, mixing oil with rice, etc" at 12.00 PM on 18.08.2019, and,"

"In Shopian, 04 men were called into the Army Camp and `interrogated` (tortured). A mic was kept close to them so that the entire area could hear them scream and be terrorized. This created an environment of fear in the entire area," at 12.00 PM on 18.08.2019."

The Indian Army later issued a detailed statement in which it said that the allegations levelled by Shehla Rashid were ''baseless'' and rejected them. "Such unverified and fake news are spread by inimical elements and organizations to incite unsuspecting population," the Indian Army had said. After the incident, an advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava lodged a police complaint against Shehla Rashid regarding her tweets.

The Home Department, GNCTD, in its observations on the file observed, "the nature of the case, location to which the tweets refer and making false allegations against the Army makes it a serious issue. Not every tweet is to be proceeded with, under criminal law. But a tweet of this kind, in this case, needs to be processed against Religious fault lines that have been created in J&K by the likes of Shehla Rashid. The case is made for prosecution u/s 153A IPC. This relates to public order."