Court order on plea seeking FIR against Geelani on March 4

A Delhi court today fixed March 4 for pronouncing its order on a plea seeking lodging of an FIR against Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and three others for purportedly instilling "hatred" among the people of Kashmir and other parts of India.
The matter, listed for order today, was fixed for March 4 as Metropolitan Magistrate Vijeta Singh was on leave.
The court had reserved the order on the plea after hearing the arguments advanced by the two complainants who had claimed that Geelani, chief of hardline Hurriyat Conference, had on several occasions "threatened the safety and security of the government of India and its citizens" by delivering hate speeches.

During the arguments, the counsel appearing for the two complainants had said that the court has the jurisdiction to order registration of FIR as the alleged statements given by Geelani and three others have been heard in Delhi as well.
On the issue of special status and applicability of Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) in Jammu and Kashmir, the lawyer had argued that these four persons were Indians and therefore, the penal provisions under IPC and other acts were applicable on them.
Earlier, the court had sought an explanation from the two complainants as to how provisions of IPC are applicable in the matter as the purported offences have been allegedly committed by Geelani and three others in Jammu and Kashmir.

The court's order came after it went through the action taken report (ATR) of Delhi Police which said that the alleged offence did not fall in its jurisdiction and the probe cannot be carried out under Indian Penal Code (IPC) as it is not applicable in Jammu and Kashmir where the penal provision is under RPC.
Besides Geelani, the complaint had also sought lodging of FIR against Tehreek-E-Hurriyat general secretary Mohammad Ashraf Sahrai and two Hurriyat Conference members Masarat Alam Bhat and Ghulam Nabi Sumji for offences under various sections of IPC, including 121 (waging or attempting to wage war against country) and 153A (promoting enmity between classes).