NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has issued a notice to Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on a plea filed by activist Harsh Mander seeking registration of an FIR against him for his “provocative” remarks on “Miya Muslims”.Additional Sessions Judge Sonu Agnihotri issued the notice while hearing a revision petition filed by Mander against the April 20 order of a magisterial court, which had refused to direct the registration of an FIR against the BJP leader.In its order dated May 26, the court said, “The counsel for the petitioner further drew my attention to the standard operating procedure (SOP) for Zero FIR and E-FIR issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs filed by the petitioner on record with the revision petition. In view of the submissions made by the counsel for the petitioner, issue a notice of revision petition to the respondents on filing of appropriate reply for July 15, 2026.” In April, Mander had moved an application seeking registration of an FIR against Sarma over an allegedly communally charged statement made on January 27 during an event in Digboi in Assam’s Tinsukia district.According to the plea, Sarma had allegedly said that “four to five lakh Miya voters” would be removed from the electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in Assam.‘Miya’ is a pejorative term used for Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam, and the non-Bengali-speaking people generally identify them as Bangladeshi immigrants. In recent years, activists from the community have started adopting the term as a gesture of defiance.Mander’s application also alleged that the Assam chief minister incited people against “Miyas” by stating that “only if they face troubles will they leave Assam” and that “we are ensuring that they cannot vote in Assam.”Before the sessions court, Mander’s counsel argued that the trial court had wrongly dismissed the application on the ground of lack of territorial jurisdiction.The counsel submitted that information regarding a cognisable offence can be given to any police station, regardless of where the offence was committed, relying on the concept of Zero FIR.The court noted the submissions and said, “Issue notice of revision petition to the respondents.” (With agency inputs)
