The Supreme Court on October 16, agreed to list an application concerning a woman journalist’s allegation that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi pushed her during an Opposition march inside the Court premises on October 12. The journalist was reportedly pregnant at the time. The allegation has been denied by the Congress party.
The incident allegedly took place when Opposition leaders visited the Supreme Court to submit a petition challenging the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The march was also linked to demands for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the revision exercise.
Journalist Richa Parashar alleged that Gandhi grabbed and pulled her while she was covering the march, after which security personnel allegedly pushed her and she fell. She was subsequently hospitalised.
Senior Advocate Gaurav Bhatia mentioned the application before a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi. The application is connected with a petition seeking directions against political demonstrations inside court premises.
During the previous hearing, Bhatia had urged the Court to take note of media reports about the incident. The Chief Justice responded,
“Not taking suo motu of an oral submission. File petition, will like to examine.”
On Friday, Bhatia also sought clarification on whether notice had been issued in the connected matters. Chief Justice Surya Kant clarified,
“Notice has been issued in all matters.”
The bench agreed to list the application on October 26 for consideration.
