Regime of Delhi LG, his masters has no place for tolerance: Chidambaram on approval to prosecute Arundhati Roy

P. Chidambaram slams Delhi LG's move to prosecute Arundhati Roy in 2010 case, saying there's no justification for it. He stands by free speech & against colonial law of sedition.

Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram on October 10 slammed Delhi Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena's move of sanctioning the prosecution of author Arundhati Roy in a 2010 case related to provocative speeches, saying the "LG and his masters" have no place in their regime for tolerance or forbearance.

The former Home Minister said there was no justification in 2010 to register the case against Ms. Roy on the charge of sedition and there is no justification now to sanction prosecution against her.

His remarks came after Mr. Saxena accorded sanction to prosecute Ms. Roy and a former Kashmiri professor in the 2010 case related to provocative speeches allegedly made at a conference in New Delhi, Raj Niwas officials said.

The FIR against Ms. Roy and former professor Sheikh Showkat Hussain was registered following orders from the Court of Metropolitan Magistrate, New Delhi, they said.

Reacting to the development, Mr. Chidambaram said, "I stand by what I said in 2010 in a speech by Ms. Arundhati Roy, the well-known writer and journalist." "There was no justification then to register a case against her on the charge of sedition. There is no justification now to sanction prosecution against her," he said on X.

The law on sedition has been explained by the Supreme Court on more than one occasion, he noted.

A speech that does not directly incite violence will not amount to sedition, the Congress leader said.