Delhi High Court refuses to stay probe against journalists in SC/ST Act case filed by ACP Vivek Bhagat

The Delhi High Court on Friday refused to stay the investigation into the criminal case filed against a woman journalist for allegedly making casteist remarks against Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Vivek Bhagat during a protest in the national capital on October 3.

A request to stay the investigation was made before Justice Mini Pushkarna during the hearing of a plea moved by the journalist for quashing the FIR.

Senior Advocate Tanveer Ahmed Mir appearing for the journalist and one other accused requested for an order restraining the police from taking further steps in relation to the investigation in this case.

He said that ACP Bhagat's SC/ST Act case was a counterblast to a sexual harassment complaint filed by the woman journalist against him.

"I cannot pass such an order [staying investigation]," Justice Pushkarna said.

The Court said the case will be heard immediately after the Dussehra break.

The Delhi Police had registered the FIR against the woman journalist 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.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court restrained the Delhi Police from taking any coercive action against the journalist in the case registered under the provisions of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.