The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and others on a plea seeking an FIR over the alleged assault of a pregnant journalist during an opposition march to the court on October 12.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued the notice after senior advocate Gaurav Bhatia mentioned the application, filed in a pending petition.
The plea alleged that Gandhi pushed the journalist towards a gate in the Supreme Court premises, causing her to lose her balance and fall. It claimed the incident occurred in a crowded area in the presence of security personnel, journalists and others, and was not merely a result of the crowd jostling.
The application sought directions for the immediate registration of an FIR against Gandhi and others allegedly involved in the incident, besides compensation for the journalist.
Bhatia had raised the matter before the bench on October 16, claiming that the journalist was three months pregnant and had to be hospitalised following the incident.
On October 12, Gandhi and several opposition leaders, accompanied by supporters, marched to the Supreme Court to file a plea alleging large-scale voter deletions and irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The march was part of a series of protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the revision exercise.
The Supreme Court had earlier issued notices to Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, the Congress party and others on a plea challenging the October 12 march.
(With inputs from PTI)
