Don't arrest Ashis Nandy: SC to cops

The Supreme Court today restrained the Rajasthan Police from arresting eminent sociologist Ashis Nandy against whom FIRs have been filed for making uncharitable comments on scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes.

Ashis Nandy

An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir, while restraining the police, issued notice to the centre and the Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Bihar governments on Nandy's petition seeking to restrain any action on the spate of FIRs filed against him.

While staying his arrest, the court said that Nandy had no licence to make statements that hurt others.

When it was told that Nandy did not intend to denigrate any section of society, the court said: "Forget about intentions, and be careful."

Many FIRs were filed after Nandy, who while speaking at a panel discussion at the Jaipur Literary Festival Jan 26, contended that "corruption" was a leveller in India, and that long-deprived sections of society were turning to it too, in a bid to wrest power and wealth forcibly from an established elite.u00a0