The Allahabad High Court recently quashed criminal proceedings against Congress leader and Senior Advocate Salman Khurshid after he regretted for his remark against UP CM Yogi Adityanath during the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign.
Khurshid is accused of saying, “Rishte me hum unke baap lagte hain” in reference to Adityanath. The dialogue is from the film ‘Shahenshah’, starring Amitabh Bachchan.
The case was quashed by Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh, who noted that Khurshid had filed a personal affidavit and also expressed regret over the remark.
The order stated, “Once the petitioner has regretted for his comments/ statement and has made it clear that he never intended to hurt the feelings and sentiments of anyone or Sri Yogi Adityanath and that he made the said statement only in a lighter vein while responding to some questions put up by journalists, I am of the view that the impugned proceedings should be quashed,” the order stated.
The judge further stated that when someone says something on the spur of the moment with no intention of hurting the feelings and sentiments of others, and if that person later regrets saying it, the Court should take a broader view of the situation and quash the proceedings.
“Regret is tough but fair teacher. “To live without regret is to believe that you have nothing to learn, no amends to make, and no opportunity to be braver with your life,” the judge stated in his order.
Former Union Law Minister Khurshid made the remark in response to a journalist’s question about a previous statement made by Adityanath.
The CM allegedly stated that Khurshid was a sympathizer of the accused in the 2008 Batla House case, which resulted in the deaths of some terrorists and one police inspector.
Senior Advocate SG Hasnain and Advocate Syed Mohd. Fazal, who represented Khurshid, claimed that the statement, which is a famous dialogue from the 1988 film ‘Shahenshah’, was made in a lighter vein and with no intent to disrespect the Chief Minister.
The Court determined that continuing the criminal proceedings against Khurshid would be unjust based on the affidavit he submitted, as well as the overall facts and circumstances of the case.
“The present petition is allowed, and the entire proceedings of Sessions Trial No.01 of 2019 (State vs. Salman Khurshid), arising out of Case Crime No.353 of 2019, under Sections 153 A, 171-G IPC and Section 125 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, Police Station Farrukhabad Kotwali, District Fatehgarh, pending in the court of Special Judge (SC/ST Act), Farrukhabad, are hereby quashed,” the Court ordered.
