The Hyderabad Police on Wednesday registered a first information report against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for his remarks against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, reported ANI.
The police said the case has been registered under Indian Penal Code sections 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 505(2) (makes, publishes or circulates any statement conducive to public mischief).
The case was filed based on a complaint by Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president Revanth Reddy on Monday.
On February 11, Sarma had castigated Gandhi for seeking proof of India’s surgical strikes on Pakistan in February 2019.
“Did we [BJP] ever ask you for proof of whether you are Rajiv Gandhi’s son or not,” Sarma had said at an election rally in Uttarakhand. “What right do you have to demand proof from my Army?”
Reddy on Monday alleged that Sarma’s “obscene speech” was made “with an intent to insult and outrage the modesty of women” by “calling into question the paternity of Rahul Gandhi”, The News Minute reported.
“Why did the chief electoral officer of the National Election Commission not order the arrest of Himanta Biswa Sharma,” he said.
Reddy asked the police to add Sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth), and 294 (obscene acts and songs) to the first information report, reported The News Minute.
However, after the case registered, the Congress leader asked the police why they did not invoke sections that provide punishment for insulting the modesty of a woman.
Meanwhile, the Assam chief minister was widely criticised for his remark.
Assam Congress President Bhupen Kumar Borah said Sarma had insulted the state and that his remarks were “uncivilised” and “low-mannered”. Uttarakhand Congress leader Tilak Raje Behar called the Assam chief minister’s remarks “shocking” and “highly objectionable”.
On Monday, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had backed Gandhi in seeking evidence for the surgical strikes and said that the BJP was using it as a political tool.
“The Army is fighting at the border,” he said. “If anyone is dying, it’s Army personnel, and they should be given credit for it, not BJP.”
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