Naveen Kumar Jindal, former media head of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Delhi unit, has been served a notice by the Bhiwandi city police in Thane, asking him to be present before the police station on June 15 in a case of hurting religious sentiments by making derogatory comments on Prophet Mohammed.
An FIR was registered under section 295 A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the IPC on June 4 by the Bhiwandi city police on a complaint given by Maulana Mohamed Noori, 48, a Imam by profession and resident of Bhiwandi.
The complainant Noori said he read a newspaper report and learnt about the statements made by Jindal. His friend then showed him the tweet on his phone. On June 1, Jindal had made derogatory tweets on the Prophet. The complainant said the tweets were provocative in nature and aimed at hurting religious sentiments of Muslims.
Another FIR has been registered against Nupur Sharma, a former BJP spokesperson. The Mumbra Police in Thane had registered the FIR against her for making derogatory comments against the Prophet while speaking to a news channel. Sharma has also been served notice by Mumbra police. asking her to be present on June 22.
Both BJP leaders were suspended by the party after their comments sparked massive outrage, following which the party had to issue a clarification and distance itself from the comments.