New Delhi: The police have booked a 25-year-old woman from Noida for allegedly making objectionable remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the protests at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.
She allegedly made the comments on July 23 during the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led protest against the NEET UG 2026 paper leak.
The case against her was first registered by Noida Police as a Zero FIR before being transferred to Delhi Police for further investigation. The incident has sparked a debate over whether criminal action should be used in such cases, as reported by News18.
The woman has been identified as Ruchika Singh, reports said. The FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint filed on Wednesday by Smriti Singh, a resident of Ghaziabad, at the Expressway Police Station in Noida.
Ruchika used abusive and objectionable language against the Prime Minister during the protest, it has been said in the complaint. It further claimed that her remarks insulted the dignity of the constitutional office of the Prime Minister and could spread hatred and disturb public peace.
Noida Police registered a Zero FIR under Sections 352, 353(1), and 356(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) based on this complaint. These sections relate to intentional insult to provoke a breach of peace, statements leading to public mischief, and defamation.
A Zero FIR allows a police station to register a complaint even if the alleged incident took place outside its jurisdiction.
The case was later transferred to Parliament Street Police Station in New Delhi, where the protest was held. Police reportedly said the Parliament Street Police will now carry out the investigation.
CJP spokesperson Saurav Das reacted to the FIR and questioned the use of criminal law in the matter.
“Of course, if there’s any language that was used which is derogatory in nature, then the person concerned is free to pursue civil defamation and criminal defamation against the person. However, the use of criminal machinery to go against protesters is highly condemnable and no one should be punished for any objectionable language per se,” he told PTI.
“I’m not saying that the language is right. The language may be wrong, it may be objectionable to someone, but it is no reason to invoke the criminal machinery against such people. It leads to a chilling effect. I don’t think this is acceptable to anybody, especially to the younger generation,” he added.
Das also appealed to young protesters to be careful while speaking during demonstrations.
“At the same time, I would request everyone from the younger generation to be very careful with their words, and the kind of insults and sentences that you use against people in general. That said, criminal machinery being used is a big no-no. It is completely unacceptable, it should not happen. We would also like to tell the police to maintain calm and not misuse their powers for any political ends,” he said.
The Delhi Police has also registered an FIR over alleged objectionable and defamatory social media posts targeting the Prime Minister during the same protest and asked social media platforms to remove the content.