The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the proceedings in a criminal case registered against political analyst Ashish Nandy for an article published in a national newspaper on the 2002 Gujarat communal riots.
A Bench of Justices Altamas Kabir and Cyric Joseph stayed the proceedings on an appeal filed by Mr. Nandy against a Delhi High Court order dated September 1, 2010, declining to quash the case registered against him under Sections 153A (promoting communal disharmony) and 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) of the IPC. The Bench issued notice to the Gujarat government seeking its response. The High Court, while dismissing his plea, had asked Mr. Nandy to defend his case in a lower court in Ahmedabad, where the case was registered.