Court schools Abu Azmi over Aurangzeb remarks, cautions him to exercise restraint during interviews

Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Azmi has been cautioned by a Mumbai court to exercise restraint during interviews as any «irresponsible» statement by a senior politician like him can spark riots. Additional Sessions Judge V G Raghuwanshi schooled Azmi while granting him anticipatory bail on Tuesday in a case filed against the SP legislator for his remarks praising Mughal ruler Aurangzeb.
The offence concerns some statements made during an interview and it means police do not need custody for seizure of any article or interrogation, the court said in the order, a copy of which was made available on Thursday.
Noting that Azmi is a politician and businessman and it was improbable that he would run away from the course of justice, the judge said it was a «fit case to exercise discretion» in his favour.
«Before parting with the order I would like to caution the applicant (Azmi) to exercise restraint on himself while giving interviews, having regards to prevailing circumstances. Any irresponsible statement can flare riots and create law and order problems,» the court said.
«I hope the applicant, being a senior politician, will understand his responsibility,» it added.

Live Events

The case was registered last week against the MLA, who represents the Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar constituency in the metropolis, under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) over his remarks eulogising the medieval-era Mughal emperor.
He was booked under BNS sections 299 (deliberate and malicious act insulting the religious beliefs of any group of people), 302 (hurting someone's religious feelings) and 356(2)(defamation).
Azmi, who is also the Samajwadi Party's Maharashtra unit president, had said while talking to the media that during Aurangzeb's reign,