Hate speech case: Non-bailable warrant against Akbaruddin

A local court on Tuesday issued a non-bailable warrant against Majlis-e-Itehadul Muslimeen legislator Akbaruddin Owaisi after he failed to appear before it in a hate speech case lodged against him at Nirmal in Adilabad district.

Second Metropolitan Magistrate Durgaprasad dismissed the petition filed by Akbaruddin's counsel seeking to dispense with his personal attendance and issued the NBW.

"Many opportunities were given to Akbaruddin asking him to personally appear before the court. However, as he did not appear, the magistrate issued the NBW. Now the police have to execute the same," a public prosecutor said.

A petition was filed earlier in the court by an advocate for the "hate" speech allegedly delivered by the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader in Nirmal town.

Police had booked cases in Nirmal in Adilabad and Nizamabad districts against the legislator after he allegedly used inflammatory and derogatory language against a community during his public speeches in December last year.

The MIM leader also faces charges of sedition and waging war against the nation among others, under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code.

Subsequently, multiple cases were lodged against Akbaruddin following court directives across Andhra Pradesh.

42-year-old Akbaruddin, the MIM's floor leader in the Andhra Pradesh assembly, is a legislator from Chandrayanagutta constituency.

He was arrested by the Nirmal police from Gandhi pital in Hyderabad on January 8 and was released on bail on February 15.