New Delhi, December 2
The Supreme Court today issued notice to Varun Gandhi, BJP MP from Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh, on a petition seeking his disqualification for seeking votes in the name of religion and resorting to hate speeches against the minority community.

A Bench comprising Justices Altamas Kabir and SS Nijjar also accepted a plea for holding the next hearing on the petition, filed by the losing Congress candidate VM Singh, within three months.

Arguing for Singh, senior counsel MN Krishnamani said the Allahabad High Court had taken as many as two years for dismissing the petition challenging Varun’s election to the Lok Sabha in the April-May 2009 poll, while it was mandatory that such petitions should be disposed of within six months.

The HC also chose to ignore the available evidence and dismissed the petition observing that Varun had made the hate speeches before filing his nomination and as such it did not have any bearing on his election.

Singh, however, insisted that Varun had sought votes in the name of Bhagwad Gita so that the minority community could not create another Pakistan. The BJP candidate had threatened to cut off the hands that were raised against the majority community, he contended.