SC lawyer Vineet Jindal alleges death threat; FIR registered under non-bailable offence

In a big development, a Supreme Court lawyer, Vineet Jindal alleged that he received a death threat on Tuesday after he had filed a complaint against Adil Chishti, son of Sayed Sarwar Chishti, the Khadim of Ajmer Sharif Dargah, over his alleged derogatory statements against Hindu deities. 

Speaking to Republic over the "Sar Tan Se Juda" threat, SC lawyer Vineet Jindal said, "Yesterday when I came to my home, I received a letter in my house premises in which life threat has given to me. After this Delhi police registered an FIR. The letter says ‘Vineet Jindal tera sar bhi Tan se juda karenge jaldi’ (Soon will behead you, Vineet Jindal). I have lodged a complaint against Ajmer Sharif Dargah Chisti (Adil Chishi). I have got several threats before this letter from the international caller. FIR was also lodged against it."

SC lawyer alleges death threat

After getting the alleged death threat in a letter, SC lawyer Vineet Jindal shared the image of the letter and said, "Today the jihadis threatened to separate me from my body and sent it (letter) to my house. This is a threat to my life and my family's life."

Notably, an FIR has been registered pertaining to this matter in Delhi's Adarsh Nagar police station on Tuesday under section 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). It is pertinent to mention that the offence under section 506 of IPC is cognizable and non-bailable.

This comes days after Jindal had filed a complaint against Adil Chishti for alleging making derogatory statements against Hindu deities. In a video clip that went going viral, Chishti could be heard making offensive comments against the community, in response to suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma's remarks on Prophet Mohammad.

In the video, the Dargah cleric's son questioned the existence of 33 crores of Hindu Gods and asked whether Nupur Sharma could prove their existence. Reacting to this, Jindal filed a complaint against Chishti. The complaint was registered under 121, 153A, 295, 298 and 505 of the Indian Penal Code against Chishti.

Following the backlash over his comments on Hindu Gods, Chishti issued a clarification saying that his statement was only a rebuttal to Nupur Sharma's earlier comments. Apologising for his remarks, Chishti said he did not intend to mock or target any religion.

"The video I released previously was a reaction to Nupur Sharma. It was only a rebuttal. The media is cherry-picking words from the video. I did not want to target any religion. I have never mocked any religion. I apologise if any religious sentiments are hurt. We have no right to mock anyone," he said in another video.