Kumar Bahukhandi
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi sits on a dharna seeking the registration of an FIR over pellet injuries suffered by a youth during the CJP-led July 20 protest, at Parliament Street police station, in New Delhi. (PTI Photo/Ravi Choudhary)
The Lok Sabha LoP has demanded the registration of a case over the alleged use of pellet guns
New Delhi: High drama unfolded at Parliament Street police station on Friday as Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi staged a nearly seven-hour sit-in demanding an FIR over the alleged pellet-gun injuries suffered by a 19-year-old protester. The standoff ended in the evening after Delhi Police registered a case, which Gandhi described as the “first step towards justice”.
Gandhi reached the police station with Sahil Lochab and his mother after first approaching Mandir Marg police station to seek registration of the case. When the demand was not accepted, he met deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi) Sachin Sharma at Parliament Street police station, which also houses the DCP’s office.
In visuals released by the Congress, Gandhi is seen asking joint commissioner of police (New Delhi Range) Nupur Prasad and Sharma to register an FIR immediately and showing them Lochab’s injuries. After the officers refused, Gandhi said he was prepared to stage a dharna outside the station for “15, 20 or 30 days” and walked out of the room.
Gandhi then began a sit-in inside the police station and said he would not leave until an FIR was registered. The protest came exactly a month after he staged a demonstration outside the Prime Minister’s residence.
“We are only saying that an FIR must be lodged. Sahil is here and his mother is accompanying him. Till an FIR is registered, we will not budge from here,” Gandhi said.
Gandhi alleged that officials had told him the FIR could not be registered because there were “orders from the top”.
“The police personnel here wanted to register the FIR, but there was a brake on justice from above,” he said, claiming that approval had to come from senior authorities, including Union home secretary Govind Mohan and Union home minister Amit Shah.
The protest drew senior Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Jairam Ramesh, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Kumari Selja. Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav and members of the Indian Youth Congress and the NSUI also arrived, leading to a heavy rush in the area. Security was strengthened with the deployment of police and Rapid Action Force personnel.
The protest ended nearly seven hours later when police informed Gandhi that an FIR had been registered against unknown persons under Sections 118 and 125 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The provisions deal with voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt using dangerous weapons or means and acts endangering the life or personal safety of others.
Emerging from the police station in the evening, Gandhi said the delay raised questions about the functioning of the justice system. “We arrived here at around 11.30 am. It is now almost 7 pm, and only then has the FIR been registered,” he said.
“This is the first step towards justice. An FIR has been registered. Look at how long it took,” Gandhi said, pointing out that nearly a month had passed since Lochab was injured. Gandhi said pellets remained lodged in Lochab’s body, including three in his eye and several near his heart, and claimed that the youth had lost vision in one eye.
“This is a police station right in the heart of New Delhi, and justice is not being delivered here. Now imagine what happens at a police station in a village or a small town,” he said. Lochab said Gandhi’s intervention had been crucial in getting his complaint registered. “It took eight hours to register the FIR, and perhaps it wouldn’t have been registered at all if the LoP hadn’t supported me,” he said. Lochab later hugged Gandhi, and the two displayed a copy of the FIR.
The case was registered nearly a month after the incident and following repeated attempts by Lochab to lodge his complaint. Sources said he had submitted a written complaint, accompanied by lawyers, on August 14 but received no acknowledgement from police. The episode also triggered a sharp attack from Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who accused the BJP-led government of shedding “crocodile tears” over nationalism while failing to protect the country’s youth.
“Those shedding crocodile tears over nationalism are, in reality, the biggest enemies of the country’s youth,” Kharge said in a post on X. Kharge questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence over the alleged police action against the protesters and accused Shah of avoiding accountability. “Amit Shah didn’t show up in Parliament for 19 days.
The country wasn’t told who ordered the firing of pellet guns on students and why such brutality was necessary against our youth,” he said. “Our daughters were groped and beaten with lathis and sticks. But Prime Minister Modi hasn’t uttered a single word to this day, and the home minister has kept dodging accountability,” Kharge said.
Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal also attacked the government, alleging that Modi and Shah had shown no concern for the students or listened to their grievances.
The students’ protest at Jantar Mantar on July 20 was held over alleged irregularities in the NEET examination. The police response has since come under scrutiny amid allegations of a lathi-charge, excessive force and pellet-gun injuries.
