The Supreme Court of India on Monday declined to entertain petitions seeking action against Himanta Biswa Sarma over a viral video allegedly showing him aiming and firing a rifle at members of a particular community.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi asked the petitioners to approach the Gauhati High Court instead. The court questioned why the matter had not first been taken to the high court and cautioned against undermining its authority.
“Why haven’t you gone to the Gauhati High Court? Don’t undermine its authority… We will ask parties to exercise restraint and remain within the boundaries of constitutional morality, but this is becoming a trend just before the polls,” the bench observed.
Calling it a “disturbing trend” that many matters are directly brought before it, the apex court remarked that high courts have already been burdened by losing jurisdiction over several categories of cases, including environmental and commercial litigations.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the petitioners, argued that Sarma was a “habitual and repeat offender” and urged the court to intervene. However, the bench refused to entertain the pleas and directed the petitioners to move the high court. It also requested the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court to expedite the hearing if approached.
Earlier, on February 10, the Supreme Court had agreed to consider a plea filed by Left leaders seeking action against the Assam chief minister. Referring to the upcoming assembly elections in the state, the court noted that “a part of the polls are fought before the actual event.”
The controversy stems from a video posted on February 7 by the official X handle of the BJP’s Assam unit. The clip, captioned “point blank shot,” purportedly showed Sarma firing a rifle at a photograph of two individuals wearing skull caps. The video also carried text reading: “Identity, land and roots come first; Why did you go to Pakistan; No forgiveness for Bangladeshis.”
The post triggered sharp criticism from Opposition parties. The Congress alleged that the video glorified violence against minorities and described it as deeply disturbing. Senior Congress leader K. C. Venugopal called it “a call to genocide” and said such content could not be dismissed as mere troll activity.
Amid mounting political backlash, the BJP later deleted the post.
Separate petitions have been filed by leaders of the CPI(M) and CPI, including Annie Raja, seeking registration of FIRs against Sarma for alleged hate speech and communal polarisation. The petitioners also urged the Supreme Court to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT), arguing that an independent probe was unlikely from state or central agencies.
In addition, a separate plea filed by 12 individuals sought directions to restrain persons holding constitutional posts from making divisive remarks.
