Delhi LG sanctions prosecution of activists accused of ‘insulting’ Constitution

New Delhi: Delhi Lt. Governor, V.K. Saxena has sanctioned prosecution of two activists of “Youth Equality Foundation” and the “Aarakshan Virodhi Party” for insulting the Constitution at a protest on August 9, 2018, a source said on Tuesday.

Activists Krishan Mohan Rai and Ashutosh Kumar, along with others, had shouted slogans “Aarakshan Murdabad”, “Sanvidhan Murdabad”, “SC/ST Act Murdabad”, “Ambedkar Murdabad”, etc. and torn and burnt copies of the Constitution in a protest against SC/ST Act Amendment Bill and reservations at a protest at Parliament Street

The sanction, granted under CrPC’s Section 196, to prosecute the accused persons in case FIR No 75/2018 dated August 10, 2018, under various sections of the C/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the IPC, and the Prevention of Insults to National Honours Act, will help the police take the case to a logical conclusion by brining the guilty to the book, the source said.

The initial FIR in this regard was filed on the complaint of the ‘Akhil Bhartiya Bheem Sena’ national in-charge Anil Tanwar.

The accused had also uploaded the videos of the protests on social media with the intention of promoting enmity amongst different groups, disturbing social harmony and breaching peace. Others involved in the case, against whom action was taken include Abhishek Shukla, Sriniwas Pandey, Santosh Shukla and Deepak Gaur. They were arrested and are out on bail given by the Delhi High Court.

According to the source, the LG in his sanction, noted: “I have perused the FIR, charge sheet, relevant documents and other material placed on record and facts of the case FIR No. 75/2018 dated 10.08.2018 at PS Parliament Street, New Delhi.

“On careful scrutiny of the evidence available, I am of the considered view that a prima facie case is made out against the accused Krishan Mohan Rai S/o Sh. Inderjeet Rai and Ashutosh Kumar S/o Sh. Nanheshwar Prasad. Therefore, the prosecution sanction under Section 196 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, for prosecution of the above accused persons in case FIR No. 75/2018 dated 10.08.2018, PS Parliament Street, for commission of said offences, is hereby granted.”