Nupur Sharma gets relief from SC in Prophet row, no coercive action till August 10

The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted interim relief to suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma and directed that no coercive steps be taken against her in the FIRs registered over her remarks on Prophet Mohammed.

The court has fixed her plea for further hearing on August 10.

What the SC said: The division bench of Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala said it never wanted Nupur Sharma to visit every court for relief. The apex court has issued notices to states like Delhi, West Bengal, and Maharashtra on plea of Sharma

"The concern of this court is how to ensure that the petitioner is able to avail the alternative remedy as permitted by this court. In order to explore such modalities, let notices be issued to all respondents," the court said.

Nupur Sharma's fresh plea: Sharma had on Monday moved the SC with a fresh plea seeking a stay on arrests in connection with the nine FIRs registered against her and the revival of her withdrawn petition seeking clubbing of FIRs lodged in several states.

Her remarks against Prophet Mohammed had sparked a massive controversy and multiple FIRs were registered against her.

Sharma had cited that she has been facing death and rape threats after the SC came down heavily upon her when she had approached the court to club all the pending FIRs against her.

SC bench's criticism: Earlier this month, the SC came down heavily on Sharma over her televised remarks on the Prophet and said that she is single-handedly responsible for the unrest in the country.

"We saw the debate on how she was incited. But the way she said all this and later said she was a lawyer, it is shameful. She should apologise to the whole country. She is single-handedly responsible for what is happening in the country," a vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala had said

The court had also said that she should have apologised to the nation on national TV.

The controversy: Sharma made the controversial statements in a TV news debate. During the debate on the Gyanvapi issue, Sharma said that Muslims were mocking the Hindu religion by making fun of the Shivling and repeatedly calling it a fountain. She then allegedly made derogatory remarks against the Prophet Muhammad and Islamic religious symbols and beliefs.

More than a week later, Naveen Kumar Jindal posted a tweet allegedly mocking Islam and made controversial statements against Prophet Mohammed. After the backlash over his post, Jindal deleted the tweet.

Soon after, violence broke out in Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh in which 40 people, including 20 police personnel, were injured. Violent protests also erupted in several other parts of the country.

Uproar in Muslim world: After the controversial remarks by BJP leaders, there was a huge uproar in the Muslim world. While Qatar, Kuwait and Iran summoned India's envoys to register their protest, Pakistan also condemned the remarks. Saudi Arabia also slammed Sharma’s remarks on Prophet Mohammed and welcomed the BJP's move to suspend its spokesperson. The controversy also sparked a Twitter trend calling for a boycott of Indian products in some Muslim countries.

Damage control by BJP: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) suspended its national spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled its Delhi media head Naveen Kumar Jindal. The BJP, jumping to damage-control mode, said that it respected all religions and strongly denounced insults of any religious personality.

After the action, Sharma unconditionally withdrew her controversial statement and claimed that her comments were a reaction to the 'continuous insult and disrespect towards Lord Shiva'.