New Delhi, July 19: In a U-turn, the Supreme Court of India today granted suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma protection from coercive action in connection with FIRs/complaints filed against her in several states over her provocative remarks on the Prophet Muhammad made during a TV debate show.
Nupur Sharma cannot be arrested in the nine cases against her over her comments on Prophet Muhammad, the court said and asked various states to respond to her request to combine multiple FIRs against her into one.
The Supreme Court will take up Nupur Sharma's request on August 10 and until then, no new cases can be filed.
Delhi, Maharashtra, Telengana, West Bengal, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Assam are the states that have been asked to respond to her case.
Nupur Sharma's lawyer told the Supreme Court that she had been facing increasing threats to her life since the court's scathing order on July 1.
"There is ever increasing threat to her safety. No amount of security could help her. Whatever happened in Supreme Court last time may have happened. But there is a real and genuine threat now. In Bengal also there is an FIR against her," said Nupur Sharma's lawyer Maninder Singh.
After the July 1 order, she pleaded, there had been instances like an Ajmer Dargah employee threatening on video to slit her throat and another UP resident abusing her and threatening to behead her.
"More FIRs have been registered in Bengal and the Kolkata police has issued a look out circular against her due to which she apprehends her immediate arrest and denial of opportunity to approach different High Courts to seek the quashing of FIRs," the lawyer said.
"There are already laid down laws on how there cannot be multiple FIRs for same offence," Mr Singh argued.
"On July 1 we had given liberty to the petitioner to seeking other legal remedies. But now she points out that it's become impossible for her to seek other legal remedies. And there is an immediate need to protect her life and liberty," said Justice Surya Kant.
On July 1, the same bench of the top court severely criticised Sharma for her controversial comments against the Prophet, saying her "loose tongue" has "set the entire country on fire" and that she is "single-handedly responsible for what is happening in the country."
"The way she has ignited emotions across the country. This lady is single-handedly responsible for what is happening in the country," the judges had said.
"She actually has a loose tongue and has made all kinds of irresponsible statements on TV and set the entire country on fire. Yet, she claims to be a lawyer of 10 years standing... She should have immediately apologised for her comments to the whole country," the Supreme Court had said.
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