CJP protest: SC takes serious view of alleged harassment of minor protester

The Supreme Court on Thursday took serious note of allegations that a 14-year-old girl who participated in the July Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests was allegedly harassed and intimidated after filing an FIR, warning that no one can be allowed to browbeat a victim or her family into abandoning criminal proceedings.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana directed solicitor general Tushar Mehta to ensure that appropriate action is taken on the minor’s FIR. The court also sought reports from the Delhi and Uttar Pradesh governments on the allegations.

“Such matters cannot be taken lightly,” the bench observed, stressing that nobody should be protected if violence against a child is involved.

The court further said that if people accused of violence against the child were “roaming free” and attempting to intimidate the girl or her family so that they did not pursue criminal proceedings, it would constitute a serious matter.

Appearing for the minor, her counsel told the court that the girl had faced harassment and that her residence was allegedly vandalised after she registered an FIR against a person who had claimed in a video that he assaulted her father during a CJP protest.

The lawyer alleged that, instead of prosecuting people who were accompanying the accused and were purportedly captured on camera, police had registered an FIR against the minor herself.

The counsel argued that such action was also contrary to an earlier order of the Supreme Court.

The lawyer further told the bench that video evidence could be placed on record showing that stones were allegedly pelted at the girl’s residence.

The counsel also urged the court to intervene immediately, arguing that the high-powered committee constituted to examine the broader matter would take time to complete its work.

“If something happens to the child in the meantime, that cannot subsequently be reversed or repaired through the committee,” the counsel submitted.

Responding to the submissions, CJI Surya Kant said that if anti-social elements had allegedly indulged in violence against a child and were subsequently moving freely while attempting to intimidate the child or her family, the matter could be serious.

The bench emphasised that allegations involving violence against a child could not be treated lightly and that those responsible should not receive protection.

The proceedings come days after Delhi Police, on 5 September, added provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and criminal intimidation to an FIR against Hindutva influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj.

The case relates to an alleged assault on the minor activist’s father during protests led by the CJP.

Bhardwaj was detained in Bulandshahr after the CJP held a protest outside the Parliament Street police station demanding his arrest over the alleged assault.

The police action followed public outrage over an interview in which Bhardwaj allegedly claimed that he had “cracked the skull” of the minor activist’s father during the 20 July protest and escaped arrest because of his political connections.

The Supreme Court’s latest intervention focuses on the allegations of harassment and intimidation faced by the minor and her family following the filing of the FIR, with the court seeking responses from the concerned authorities.

With PTI inputs