In a relief to BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, Supreme Court today stayed the execution of a non-bailable warrant issued against him by an Assam court for allegedly delivering a hate speech at a university there. A bench of the court also issued notice to the Centre on the plea challenging constitutional validity of certain penal provisions pertaining to offences of rioting and hate speech. The bench, which decided to hear arguments on the constitutional validity of certain IPC provisions, asked Swamy to move to the high court or a competent court with his individual case of issuance of warrant for allegedly delivering hate speech.
Later, the bench stayed the execution of the non-bailable warrant (NBW) for six weeks and allowed Swamy to move a competent court within that period. Swamy had approached the apex court against the order of a trial court in Karimganj in Assam, issuing a NBW against him for failing to appear before it in a case of alleged hate speech.