Bengaluru, Sep 4 (PTI) A zero FIR was registered on Friday against Uttarakhand BJP members and others in connection with the alleged “purification” ritual held at a venue after AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge addressed a rally there, police said.
The case was registered following a complaint lodged by T R Ramappa, former vice-chairman of the ST Department (Adivasi Congress) of the Indian National Congress at Vidhana Soudha Police Station on August 31, they said.
A Zero FIR is a case that can be filed in any police station, regardless of the place where the crime is committed or the jurisdiction of the police station, officials said.
According to the FIR, the complainant stated that on August 8, the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and National President of the Indian National Congress, Mallikarjun Kharge, attended and addressed a large public rally at Ramlila Ground in Haldwani, Uttarakhand.
The said rally was a peaceful and democratic public assembly, duly conducted in accordance with the law and without any unlawful incident, it said.
The FIR stated that subsequent to the public rally, certain members and functionaries of the Bharatiya Janata Party allegedly orchestrated and conducted a so-called “purification ritual” on August 10 (Shuddhikaran) at the very venue where the said rally was held.
“The said ritual was purportedly intended to convey the deeply offensive, derogatory and casteist notion that the presence of Sri. Mallikarjun Kharge, a member of a Scheduled Caste community, had rendered the said place “impure” and that the venue consequently required ritualistic cleansing,” the complainant alleged.
Such conduct, if established, the complainant alleged, is not merely “objectionable” but constitutes a “deliberate” and “deeply insulting” act directed against the dignity and social status of Kharge and is liable to attract the consequences prescribed under the applicable provisions of law.
“That, compounding the gravity of the aforesaid egregious act, Sri Mahendra Bhatt, in his capacity as the President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttarakhand, has, through public statements made to the media, brazenly defended, justified and endorsed the aforesaid purification ritual. By publicly supporting and seeking to justify such an objectionable act, he has not only lent his authority and tacit official imprimatur to the said conduct, but has also reinforced, legitimised and amplified its inherently hateful, casteist and discriminatory message…,” the complainant further alleged.
Based on the complaint, a legal opinion was sought and a case was registered against Uttarakhand State BJP members and others under relevant sections of the Protection of Civil Rights Act, the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and Section 196(1)(b) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, a senior police officer said. PTI AMP KH
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