Muzaffarnagar riots: Court fixes September 1 for framing charges in hate speech case

A special court could not frame charges against 10 accused, including several former lawmakers, in a hate speech case related to the 2013 Muzaffarnagar communal riots as they failed to appear on Tuesday. Charges could not be framed against several leaders including former MP Kadir Rana, former UP minister S Saiduzzama and former MLAs Maulana Jameel and Noor Saleem.

Special Judge Gopal Upadhyaye has now fixed September 1 for framing charges against the ten accused.

They are facing trial for violating prohibitory orders and inciting communal tension following their speeches in Khalapar locality here on August 30, 2013.


Rana had left the Samajwadi Party in 2007 to join the Rashtriya Lok Dal and then switched to the BSP in 2009.

Communal clashes in Muzaffarnagar and adjoining areas in August and September 2013 had claimed 60 lives and displaced over 40,000 people.

The state government had formed an SIT to probe the riot cases. The SIT has filed charge sheets in 175 cases.

Police had registered cases against 6,869 people and arrested 1,480 people in connection with the riots.