Delhi Protest: Journalist moves Delhi High Court in SC/ST Act case for comments on cop

The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to hear urgently a plea filed by a woman journalist and two others whom the Delhi Police has booked for allegedly making casteist remarks against Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Vivek Bhagat during a protest in the national capital on October 3.

Advocate Saimon Farooqui mentioned the matter before a Bench of Acting Chief Justice Nitin Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma for an urgent hearing.

Farooqui urged the Court to hear the matter today and asked for interim protection.

However, the Bench said that the matter will be heard tomorrow.

The Delhi Police registered an FIR against independent journalist Rosy and one Gajendra Singh, associated with a news portal, as well as an unidentified person, on a complaint filed by ACP Bhagat over alleged casteist remarks during a protest in Delhi on October 3.

According to reports, the FIR was registered at Parliament Street police station on October 13 under provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Sections 221, 356(2) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Bhagat alleged that the journalist made derogatory remarks about his caste and questioned his appointment as an ACP while he was performing law-and-order duties near Jantar Mantar. The case comes amid a separate complaint by the journalist accusing Bhagat of sexual harassment and manhandling during the same protest.