Got sanction to prosecute Subramanian Swamy: Police tells HC

An FIR was lodged against Swamy for allegedly writing an ‘inflammatory’ article in a Mumbai daily in 2011.

New Delhi:

Delhi High Court was on Tuesday told that sanction has been obtained to prosecute Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy in an FIR lodged against him for allegedly writing an "inflammatory" article in a Mumbai daily in 2011.

The submission was made before Justice I S Mehta by the lawyer for Delhi police, who said that a draft chargesheet is also ready in the matter and will be filed soon.

"Sanction has been obtained from the competent authority. A draft chargesheet has also been prepared which will be filed soon. Now nothing remains in the matter. The petition has now become infructuous," Delhi police submitted before the court.

In response, Swamy's lawyer sought to withdraw the plea, which was allowed by the court while granting liberty to the BJP leader to "file a fresh cause of action, if any".

"It (the petition) is dismissed as withdrawn," the court said in its order.

Swamy had moved the high court for quashing of the FIR on the ground that "whatever investigation had been done by the police till date, no material has been found which would cause communal disharmony in society".

A case was filed against Swamy in October 2011 by the Crime Branch of Delhi Police on a complaint from the National Commission for Minorities, for writing an article which was allegedly inflammatory and intended to spread communal enmity.

Earlier, Swamy's counsel had stated that in 2005, the leader had written a book on terrorism in India and its content had not caused any sort of communal disturbance but writing of an article based on the book, has become offensive.

Swamy was granted anticipatory bail in January 2012 by the high court after he had given an undertaking in the court that he would refrain from writing such articles in future.

Earlier, Swamy's counsel had claimed that this case was lodged to harass his client as he had exposed the 2G scam against the then government.