‘Absolutely frivolous’: Supreme Court Dismisses Plea Seeking Removal Of 26 Quran Verses

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a PIL that sought deletion of 26 verses from the Quran alleging that they violate the law of the land and promote extremism. Calling it “absolutely frivolous’, the bench also imposed costs of Rs 50,000 on the petitioner Syed Waseem Rizvi, a former chairperson of Shia Central Board of Waqf, Uttar Pradesh.

Rizvi, in his PIL, alleged that the 26 verses “promote violence”, and were not part of the original Quran, but were added in later revisions, and should hence be removed from the holy book.

A bench of Justices R F Nariman B R Gavai and Hrishikesh Roy rejected the petition in which Rizvi alleged that these 26 verses of the Quran promoted terrorism. 

In his plea, Rizvi has stated that Islam is based on the concepts of equity, equality, forgiveness and tolerance but due to extreme interpretations of the said verses of the holy book, the religion has been drifting away from the basic tenets. 

 The plea of Rizvi has drawn massive backlash with several Muslim outfits and Islamic clerics protesting against the former chairman of the Waqf Board.

 Last month, an FIR was registered in Bareilly against Rizvi for allegedly hurting religious sentiments of Muslims with his petition in the top court.

 The FIR was registered at the Kotwali police station following complaints by Anjuman Khuddam-e-Rasool secretary Shan Ahmed and an organisation known as Ittehad-e-Millat council.

With PTI inputs