New Delhi: The Supreme Court on February 24 issued notices to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) chief Ashok Singhal and the Maharashtra government on a petition alleging that complaints against both for making inflammatory speeches in Mumbai last year were not accepted by police.

Hearing a petition filed by Aleque Padamsee and others, a Bench comprising justice R C Lahoti and justice Brijesh Kumar also issued notice to the Union government, Gujarat government and Azad Maidan Police in Mumbai.

The petitioners, who included noted personalities like B G Verghese and Kuldip Nayar, said in the aftermath of Godhra carnage, the state of Gujarat saw large-scale rioting resulting in loss of hundreds of lives.

It alleged that Modi, as the then care-taker Chief Minister, delivered a speech at Becharaji on September 9 last year making certain statements, "which need to be viewed as a grave threat to the peace, unity and integrity of India".

Singhal, as president of VHP, had made statements at a public gathering at Shivala Bhaiyan temple in Amritsar, "wherein instead of condemning the said carnage, he praised the incidents and described it as a successful experiment", the petitioners alleged.

To restrain Modi and Singhal from making similar statements, complaints were filed at Azad Maidan police station at Mumbai under sections 153A, 153B and 505 of Indian Penal Code (IPC), accusing them of threatening the unity and integrity of India, the petitioners said.

Counsel for the petitioner Kapil Sibal contended before the Bench that "the petitioners just want to know why their complaint would not be registered by police".

The petitioners had also stated that their letters to the Ministry of Home Affairs in the Centre for grant of sanction to launch prosecution against the accused, but these have evoked no response so far.

PTI