A Delhi sessions court has issued notices to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and the Delhi Police in connection with a petition seeking a First Information Report (FIR) against the BJP leader. The revision petition, filed by prominent social activist Harsh Mander, challenges a lower court’s refusal to register a case over Sarma’s controversial remarks regarding Bengali-origin Muslim voters, locally referred to as “Miya” voters, earlier this year.
Additional Sessions Judge Sonu Agnihotri issued the order on May 26, 2026, directing that notices be served to the respondents. The court has scheduled the next hearing on the matter for July 15, 2026.
MHA’s ‘Zero FIR’ Guidelines Under the Spotlight
The sessions court’s decision to issue notices comes after the petitioner’s legal counsel presented crucial guidelines established by the central government.
During the hearing, Mander’s counsel drew the court’s attention to the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for “Zero FIR” and “E-FIR” issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which had been placed on record alongside the revision petition. A Zero FIR allows a police station to register a complaint irrespective of where the alleged offense took place, before transferring it to the appropriate jurisdiction.
“In view of submissions made by Counsel for Petitioner, issue notice of revision petition to Respondents on filing of appropriate PF / Speed Post for 15.07.2026,” Judge Agnihotri noted in the official order.
The Controversial Remarks in Assam
The legal battle stems from an event held on January 27, 2026, in Digboi, located in Assam’s Tinsukia district.
According to Mander’s application, Chief Minister Sarma allegedly made highly provocative and communally charged public remarks targeting the state’s Bengali-origin Muslim population. The petition alleges that Sarma declared that “four to five lakh Miya voters” would be purged from the electoral rolls during the state’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.
Furthermore, the plea claims that the Chief Minister incited public sentiment against the community by stating that “only if they face troubles will they leave Assam” and asserting, “we are ensuring that they cannot vote in Assam.”
Why the Lower Court Previously Dismissed the Case
The revision petition was filed after a trial court at the Saket court complex dismissed Mander’s initial application on April 20, 2026.
The trial court had rejected the plea under Section 175(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), primarily on jurisdictional grounds. The metropolitan magistrate had observed that there was no evidence to suggest that the Chief Minister’s statements, made in Assam, had caused any enmity, disharmony, or insult to religious beliefs within the territorial jurisdiction of the Delhi court.
At the time, the court ruled that no offenses had been made out within its local jurisdiction under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including:
- Section 196 (promoting enmity / hate speech)
- Section 197 (remarks threatening national integration)
- Section 299 (deliberate acts to outrage religious feelings)
- Section 302 (deliberate intent to wound religious feelings)
- Section 353 (circulating false statements to induce public mischief)
By bringing up the MHA’s SOP on Zero FIRs in the sessions court, the petitioner is actively challenging this jurisdictional hurdle, setting up a significant legal debate on how cross-border hate speech complaints should be handled under the new criminal laws.
