Azam Khan will be served a notice by CBI to explain his offensive comments on rape, top court said.
Highlights
- 14-year-old and mother raped near highway in July
- Azam Khan, senior minister, called it "political conspiracy"
- CBI to deliver notice to him seeking explanation, says Supreme Court
Azam Khan, the most senior minister in Akhilesh Yadav's cabinet, has run into more trouble with the Supreme Court today over his remarks about a woman and her teen daughter who were gang-raped on a major highway in Bulandshahr near Delhi in July.
Mr Khan, 68, will be served a notice by the CBI to explain his comments conflating the rape, which took place in Bulandshahr, with a "political conspiracy", judges said today.
Last month, the Supreme Court stopped the CBI's investigation while it determines if Mr Khan's remarks violate the right to free speech.
The court said it will examine whether a person holding a public office can make such comments which can impact the "victim in distress" and affect fair probe and whether a statement like that "defeats constitutional sensitivity".
The teen rape survivor, who was assaulted in fields near the highway with her mother, while men in their family were tied up by a gang of men, has said the Supreme Court must penalize Mr Khan for his comments and also monitor the investigation into her attack. The minister's stand, she has alleged, proves the state will not conduct an impartial inquiry.
Mr Khan's self-defense has been centred on the argument that he "spoke like a politician".
The rape and the alleged police inaction has been used by other parties to buttress their claim of rampant lawlessness in Uttar Pradesh just months before the state votes for its next government.