Vadodara court serves notice on Akbaruddin Owaisi for 'hate speech'

VADODARA: A court today issued a notice to Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) leader Akbaruddin Owaisi asking him to appear before it on January 24 after a citizen filed a complaint against the Hyderabad-based MLA for allegedly making a "hate speech" against a community.

"The complaint against Owaisi was filed in the court of judicial magistrate first class by citizen Jayesh Gandhi for delivering provocative speech hurting the sentiments of a community. The court has served a notice on Owaisi asking him to appear before it on January 24," Gandhi's lawyer Anil Desai said.

Gandhi filed his complaint under Sec 298 (uttering words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings) of IPC, he said.

The complaint was filed in reference to the "hate speech" allegedly delivered by the MIM legislator while addressing a public meeting at Nirmal town in Andhra Pradesh's Adilabad district on December 24, 2012.

Andhra Pradesh Police till yesterday had registered three FIRs against Owaisi at Adilabad and Nizamabad districts, and another by Osmania University (OU) Police in Hyderabad on similar charges.