The Supreme Court on Monday stayed proceedings against Uttarakhand gym owner Deepak Kumar, who had objected to alleged Bajrang Dal members confronting an elderly Muslim shopkeeper in Uttarakhand in January, Live Law reported.
The court also suspended an order by the Uttarakhand High Court that barred Kumar from making social media comments about the case.
The bench issued notice on Kumar’s petition challenging the High Court’s refusal to quash the first information report (FIR) registered against him.
The dispute dates to Jan. 26, when alleged Bajrang Dal members went to the shop of Vakeel Ahmed, an elderly Muslim man in Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal district. The group objected to Ahmed using the word “Baba” in the name of his shop.
Kumar and another man, Vijay Rawat, intervened and questioned the group’s actions. They were allegedly told not to interfere.
An FIR was registered against Kumar and Rawat later that month following a complaint by two men affiliated with the Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad. The complaint alleged offences including rioting, causing hurt and intentional insult intended to provoke a breach of peace.
The Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad are among Hindu nationalist organisations associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological parent organisation of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
The complainants alleged that Kumar and Rawat had stolen their watches and money and subjected them to caste-based abuse.
The case later triggered protests outside Kumar’s gym. About 40 people gathered there, raising slogans against him and blocking a national highway.
Kumar subsequently filed a complaint against the protesters. Police, however, registered a separate case on the complaint of an officer against unidentified people over the demonstrations.
During Monday’s hearing, Kumar’s lawyer, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, questioned why a person who had acted as a “good Samaritan” should face such a complaint, Live Law reported.
The incident
A video recorded during the Jan. 26 confrontation and later widely circulated on social media shows Kumar questioning the group over its objection to Ahmed’s use of the word “Baba”. He pointed out that other shops were permitted to use the term and said Ahmed’s establishment had been operating for more than 30 years.
When asked his name, Kumar replied, “My name is Mohammad Deepak.” He later said he had made the remark to emphasise that he was an Indian and that all people were equal before the law.
Kumar later posted a video online in which he said he identified himself first as a human being rather than by religion.
He also said that no one, whether Hindu or Muslim, should be targeted because of their religion.
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