India’s First Booker Prize Winner, Likely To Face Sedition Charges And UAPA Trial. What Is The Arundhati Roy Case?‍

Roy To Be Prosecuted Under UAPA

Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has sanctioned the prosecution of renowned author Arundhati Roy and former Professor of International Law at the Central University of Kashmir, Dr Sheikh Showkat Hussain, under section 45(1) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in a case dating back 14 years. 

This decision is related to an FIR registered on November 29, 2010, following a complaint by activist Sushil Pandit on October 28, 2010.

2010 UAPA Case Against Arundhati Roy

The charges stem from speeches delivered at a conference titled "Azadi - The Only Way", held on October 21, 2010 at LTG Auditorium, Copernicus Marg, New Delhi. The discussions allegedly advocated the "separation of Kashmir from India".

The conference featured speakers including Syed Ali Shah Geelani, SAR Geelani (anchor of the conference and prime accused and later acquitted in the Parliament attack case), Arundhati Roy, Dr Sheikh Showkat Hussain, and Varavara Rao. Syed Ali Shah Geelani and SAR Geelani have since died.

The Background Of The Conference

The conference took place amidst a period of intense unrest in Kashmir, following the death of a 17-year-old boy named Tufail Ahmad Mattoo struck by a tear gas canister. The complaint by Sushil Pandit led to the registration of the FIR on the direction of the Metropolitan Magistrate Court in New Delhi on November 27, 2010. 

In his complaint, Pandit had said several of the speeches, including the one by Arundhati Roy, had “jeopardised public peace and security”, further asserting that speakers promoted “separation of Kashmir from India”.

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Bottomline

Last October, the LG had granted sanction to prosecute them under section 196 of CrPC for commission of offences punishable under different sections of the Indian Penal Code: 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc.), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national-integration) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief).

Reportedly, Roy also said in a conference that, “Kashmir has never been an integral part of India and this is a historical fact.”