The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear an application alleging that Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi pushed a woman journalist, who was three months pregnant, during the October 12 march by Opposition leaders to the Supreme Court.
Senior Advocate Gaurav Bhatia mentioned the application before a Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi. He submitted to the Court that the application had been filed in the pending petition by advocate Digant Mishra, which seeks guidelines regulating political protests and demonstrations within court premises.
The allegation had been raised by Bhatia during Thursday’s hearing of petitions concerning the Delhi protests. At the time, the Bench had declined to take cognisance of an oral submission and asked him to file an application so that the issue could be examined.
“
“There was a lady journalist pushed by the LOP Rahul Gandhi himself. She was two months pregnant. I have a report. I am urging that cognisance of this news report also be taken. She has been hospitalised. Your lordship would appreciate a lady journalist just because she is reporting against a particular person or reporting fairly and doing her duty. That is why it is selective outrage and nothing else,” he had submitted yesterday.
CJI Surya Kant had responded that the Court could not take suo motu cognisance merely on the basis of an oral submission, adding that a formal petition or application would have to be filed.
The application concerns an incident that allegedly occurred when Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition leaders marched towards the Supreme Court on October 12 to submit a petition challenging the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The journalist, identified in reports as Richa Parashar, alleged that Rahul Gandhi grabbed and pulled her as she attempted to cover the event, following which security personnel pushed her. She reportedly fell and was subsequently hospitalised.
The underlying petition filed by Digant Mishra and other advocates seeks a regulatory framework for political demonstrations in the vicinity of the Supreme Court and other judicial complexes. It also seeks safeguards against protests intended to influence pending judicial proceedings and preservation of CCTV footage and other records relating to the October 12 march.