New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other respondents to reply to an application claiming that the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha had pushed a pregnant woman journalist while a group of Opposition leaders marched to the court on October 12, PTI reported.
The application was mentioned before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, with Justice Joymalya Bagchi as the other member. The bench issued notices to Gandhi and the remaining respondents named in the plea.
Senior advocate Gaurav Bhatia, who brought the matter to the court’s attention, told the judges that the application had been moved in a case already pending before the Supreme Court. He alleged that a woman journalist had been physically mishandled within the court’s premises.
“Respondent No.4 (Rahul Gandhi) suddenly pushed her towards the gate, with such force that she lost her balance and fell, and had to break the fall with her hands. The push was delivered openly, in a crowded place, in the presence of security personnel, journalists and other persons, despite her express pleas, and was not a mere jostle of the crowd”, the plea submitted.
Relief Sought
Through the application, the complainant has asked the court to direct authorities to register an FIR without delay against Gandhi and other individuals said to be connected with the episode. It has also sought monetary compensation for the journalist.
Bhatia had earlier drawn the bench’s attention to the matter on October 16, asserting that Gandhi had pushed the journalist on the Supreme Court grounds.
“A lady journalist was pushed by Rahul Gandhi in the Supreme Court precincts. She was three months pregnant and had to be hospitalised,” Bhatia had argued, urging the apex court to take cognisance of the matter.
The alleged incident occurred on October 12, when Gandhi and other Opposition leaders went to the Supreme Court with supporters to file a petition over alleged voter deletions and irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Delhi has seen repeated protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the SIR process.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had issued notices to Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, the Congress and others on a separate plea challenging the October 12 march.