The Supreme Court on Friday, June 26, stayed coercive action against journalist Amish Devgan who had moved the apex court, urging it to quash the multiple First Information Report (FIRs) filed against him for hurting religious sentiments over his derogatory remarks on Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti.
The matter will reportedly be next heard in the first week of July. The bench of Justices, including AM Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and Sanjiv Khanna, issued a notice on his written petition over the quashing of the multiple FIRs.
Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra who appeared for Amish said that his client made mistake during his news show for which he later issued apology. He further said that FIRs against journalist for a slip of tongue is unjust and is leading to undue harassment.
Taking to Twitter after his show, Devgan had tweeted and issued an apology stating that he had mistakenly referred to 'Khilji' as 'Chishti', and said that he also has visited the Dargah for the saint's blessings.
Devgan had used the term 'Lootera Chisti' ('Chisti the robber') on his June 15 news show that invited furious reactions from the Muslim community across India.
The comment was made by the new anchor during a debate on a PIL about the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act on his show 'Aar Par'. He had allegedly referred to Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti, better known as Khwaja Gareeb Nawaz, an "attacker" and a "looter".
