Gurugram Court denies bail to Jamia shooter over hate speech at Mahapanchayat in Pataudi

A Gurugram Court denied bail to Rambhagat Gopal Sharma, also known as `Ram Bhakt Gopal', who has been arrested for making a hate speech.

New Delhi: A Gurugram Court on Friday (July 16) dismissed Rambhagat Gopal Sharma who is also known as `Ram Bhakt Gopal's` bail plea in connection to the inciting speech he had delivered during a Mahapanchayat in Pataudi, ANI reported. 

The Judicial Magistrate of Pataudi Mohd. Sageer observed that the consequences of these kinds of activities may be 'far more dangerous and it may translate into communal violence'.

"The act of the accused i.e. hate speech instigating abduction and the killing of girls and persons of a particular religious community is itself a form of violence and such people and their inflammatory speeches are obstacles to the growth of a true democratic spirit, " the court said.

Further, the court said, "Religious tolerance is the need of the time and not the intolerance. It is necessary for individuals within the society to get along, especially when a variety of cultures and the people with different religious beliefs live in one community or nation."

The court ruling comes four days after the Haryana Police booked Gopal for allegedly making provocative comments at a mahapanchayat in Pataudi. The case was registered against him along with others on charges of promoting enmity, and insulting religion and its beliefs at a mahapanchayat in Pataudi on July 4.

In his speech at the mahapanchayat, he allegedly called for attacks on the Muslim community.

Gopal had earlier grabbed headlines when he brandished a gun and opened fire in Delhi's Jamia area in January 2020.