No fresh case to be filed over minister's Khirki Extension raid

No fresh case will be filed against Law Minister Somnath Bharti over the complaint of an Ugandan woman who approached court on Thursday, police said. The woman had sought registration of an FIR over Bharti’s controversial midnight raid in south Delhi’s Khirki Extension last week.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) B S Jaiswal revealed it in a report filed before Metropolitan Magistrate Chetna Singh on Saturday. “The present petitioner has already been examined in the case by the investigating officer and her statement under section 164 of CrPC has also been recorded on January 21.

Hence, no fresh FIR was registered as the matter pertains to the same incident in which the case has been registered,” Jaiswal said.

Police also told the court that the complainant has already been made a witness in the FIR lodged on January 19 after the court’s direction. The woman had approached the court seeking lodging of a separate FIR on the raid after another foreign woman, last week, sought similar relief from the court.

In her plea filed through Advocate Rakesh Sherawat, she said the mob had held her hand and taken her out of the house along with her sisters who live with her. She claimed that the mob continuously abused and misbehaved with her and her sisters and directed them to leave India immediately.

The metropolitan magistrate has already observed that despite the fact that a complaint had been received at Malviya Nagar police station, no action had been taken by the SHO. It had been stated that the “complaint was pending inquiry”.

On Thursday, the court had said before passing any further order, the DCP would be asked whether any such complaint was received at his office and if any action had been taken.

Police had registered a case against unknown persons on January 19 on the first plea filed before the MM.

On the plea, the court had ordered registration of an FIR under sections 153-A (promoting enmity between classes), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 354 (outraging women modesty), 509 (uttering any word or making any gesture intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 147 (rioting) of the Indian Penal Code.

Three women have identified Bharti as the leader of the mob, but no arrest have been made so far.