NEW DELHI: Delhi Lieutenant Governer VK Saxena has sanctioned the prosecution of two accused under the Prevention of Atrocities (POA) Act who were booked in August 2018 for allegedly making casteist slurs against Dalits during an anti-reservation protest that year, sources in Delhi Police said.
According to the police sources, the accused – Krishan Mohan Rai and Ashutosh Kumar who are activists associated with Youth Equality Foundation and Aarakshan Virodhi Party, allegedly shouted slogans like ‘Aarakshan Murdabad’, ‘Sanvidhan Murdabad’, ‘SC/ST Act Murdabad’, ‘Ambedkar Murdabad’, ‘Chamar Murdabad’, etc.
The accused also burnt copies of the Constitution in a protest against SC/ST Act Amendment Bill and reservations at Parliament Street during the protest, they added. Police sources also said that 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 the peace.
“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, Inderjeet Rai and Ashutosh Kumar Nanheshwar Prasad. Therefore, the prosecution sanction under Section 196 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, for the prosecution of the above-accused persons for commission of said offences, is hereby granted,” Saxena noted in his sanction.
The POA Act deals with offences of atrocities against the members of the Scheduled. Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. Officials said that the prosecution sanctions will help the police take the case to a logical conclusion by bringing the guilty to the book. The initial FIR in this regard was filed on on August 9, 2018.