New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the former chief of Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board Waseem Rizwi seeking deletion of 26 verses from the Quran alleging that the verses violate the law of the land and promote extremism.
During the hearing, a bench of Justices Rohinton Fali Nariman, BR Gavai, and Hrishikesh Roy asked the petitioner, “are you seriously pressing the petition,” terming it “absolutely frivolous”.
The top court also imposed costs of Rs 50,000 on the petitioner.
In his PIL, Rizwi alleged that the 26 verses “promote violence”, and were not part of the original Quran, but were added in later revisions, and should hence be removed from the holy book.
He sought a declaration from the apex court to hold those verses unconstitutional, non-effective, and non-functional.
On March 11 soon after filing the petition, there have been protests against Rizvi in many parts of the country. Also, many complaints were lodged against him in many police stations, including one by a BJP leader in Jammu and Kashmir, and one in Bareilly in UP.
The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) had already issued a notice to Rizvi asking him to withdraw his comments on Quran failing which, it said, will hold a hearing and direct authorities to take appropriate legal action against him. (UNI)
