SC seeks report on minor's harassment allegation in CJP protest case
The Supreme Court on Thursday sought reports from the Delhi and Uttar Pradesh governments on allegations that a 14-year-old girl who participated in the July Cockroach Janta Party protests was harassed after filing an FIR, warning that nobody should be allowed to browbeat a victim or her family from pursuing criminal proceedings.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to ensure that action was taken on the minor's FIR.
"Such matters cannot be taken lightly. Nobody should be protected if violence against a child is involved," the bench observed, adding that it would be a serious matter if accused persons were roaming free and attempting to intimidate the child or her family into abandoning criminal proceedings.
The counsel appearing for the girl told the court that she was harassed and her residence was vandalised after she registered the FIR against a person who had claimed in a video that he assaulted her father during the CJP protest.
The lawyer also alleged that instead of prosecuting those accompanying the accused who were purportedly caught on camera, an FIR had been registered against the child.
This, the counsel said, was contrary to an earlier order of the apex court. The lawyer also said a video showing stone pelting at the girl's residence could be placed on record.
"The high-powered committee will take time, but if something happens to the child in the meantime, that cannot subsequently be reversed or repaired through the committee," the counsel submitted.
The CJI responded that if people who had indulged in violence against a child were roaming free and attempting to browbeat her, it could constitute a serious matter.
The development comes days after Delhi Police, on September 5, added provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and criminal intimidation to the FIR against Hindutva influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj over the alleged assault on the minor activist's father during the CJP-led protests.
Bhardwaj was detained in Bulandshahr after the CJP staged a protest outside the Parliament Street police station demanding his arrest over the alleged assault.
The police action followed outrage over an interview in which Bhardwaj claimed he had "cracked the skull" of the minor's father during the July 20 protest and escaped arrest because of his political connections.
