New Delhi [India], July 11 (ANI): The Rouse Avenue Court on Saturday asked the revisionist (complainant) to file the links of news video clips containing the speech delivered by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge during an election rally in Karnataka in April 2023.
The court is hearing a revision petition challenging a magistrate court order that declined to take cognisance of and dismissed a complaint against Kharge over his alleged objectionable speech.
The revision petition seeks to set aside the November 11, 2025 order passed by the Tis Hazari Court.
Special Judge Jitendra Singh directed counsel for the revisionist, Ravinder Gupta, to submit the video links, stating that he wanted to watch the speech himself. The matter has been listed for clarification on August 6.
Advocate Gagan Gandhi appeared for the revisionist and advanced rebuttal arguments.
The case pertains to an alleged hate speech delivered by Kharge during an election rally at Naregal in Karnataka in April 2023. The magistrate court had earlier declined to direct registration of an FIR and subsequently dismissed the complaint filed by Ravinder Gupta, an advocate associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
On April 2, Kharge filed his reply before the revision court, denying all allegations and questioning the jurisdiction of the Special Court to entertain the revision petition.
The reply stated that although Special Courts have jurisdiction to try cases involving MPs and MLAs, they do not possess revisional jurisdiction over orders passed by a Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC).
“Therefore, the present Revision Petition is not maintainable under Section 438 of the BNSS, 2023 (Section 397 of the CrPC),” the reply stated.
Kharge also denied allegations of promoting enmity between communities and argued that no offence was made out under Sections 153A, 153B, 295A, 499, 120B and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
The reply further stated that the order under challenge did not amount to a review or recall of the December 9, 2024 order, through which the JMFC had refused to direct registration of an FIR.
“Instead, it was passed after considering the complaint and the statement recorded under Section 200 of the CrPC,” the reply stated, adding that the revision petition was devoid of merit and liable to be dismissed.
On January 29, 2026, the Rouse Avenue Court issued notice to Kharge on the revision petition filed against the dismissal of the complaint.
On November 11, 2025, the Tis Hazari Court had rejected the criminal complaint, holding that no offence of hate speech was made out as the speech was directed at political and ideological principles rather than any community or religion.
Earlier, on December 9, 2024, the court had also refused to direct registration of an FIR against Kharge.
Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Preeti Rajoria, while dismissing the complaint, observed that, “The statement is merely aimed at the political and ideological principles and not at any community defined by religion, caste, or ethnicity.”
The court further noted that there was no evidence that the speech had incited violence or public disorder.
“It is a settled position of law that mere criticism, however harsh and offensive, is not sufficient to make it punishable as ‘hate speech’ unless it tends to incite hatred between two groups,” the court had observed.
The JMFC also held that no prima facie offence of defamation under Section 500 of the IPC was made out.
“It is pertinent to note that cognisance for the offence under Section 500 IPC is also barred in the present case, since the complaint has not been filed by the victim himself, the Prime Minister,” the order stated.
While rejecting the complaint, the court relied on the Supreme Court’s judgment in ‘Pravasi Bhalai Sangathan vs Union of India,’ which held that there must be a direct nexus between hate speech and incitement or public disorder.
“There are no sufficient grounds for proceeding further against the proposed accused/alleged, as no offence of defamation or hate speech, as alleged, is made out against the proposed accused,” the court had held while dismissing the complaint.
The complaint had alleged that Kharge made derogatory remarks against the BJP, RSS and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an election rally on April 27, 2023, and that the complainant, being an RSS member, felt defamed by the speech. The court, however, held that the evidence was within the complainant’s reach and that no police investigation was required at that stage. (ANI)
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