New Delhi, Nov 6 A Delhi court on Friday dismissed a complaint seeking an FIR against Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta over her alleged remarks comparing Delhi government officials to Lord Hanuman.
The court underlined that the evidence “does not prima facie disclose the deliberate and malicious intention to insult religion or religious beliefs”.
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Ashwani Panwar rejected the application moved by the complainant, Ram Niwas Sharma, under Section 175(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
The provision empowers a magistrate to order a police investigation and FIR registration when a police station refuses to register a cognisable offence.
The complainant sought an FIR under Section 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which deals with deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings.
In its Friday order, the court quoted the speech which allegedly hurt the complainant’s religious feelings — “Ye jo hamare Dilli sarkar ke adhikari he ye sare Hanuman he. In Hanumano ki jabtak puch me aag lagti hai to sari appni power yaad aati hai us se pehle bhul jate he, Hanuman jee mujhe isliye yaad aye kyonki ham marghat bale Baba ke dwar par baithe hai.”
(These officials of our Delhi government, they are all Hanumans. Only when the tail of these Hanumans catches fire do they remember all their power; before that, they forget it. I remembered Hanuman ji because we are sitting at the door of Marghat Wale Baba.)
It said that the complainant claimed that the speech or wording hurt his religious feelings and sentiments, besides constituting an intentional insult to the religious faith of Hindu devotees.
“The speech delivered by the serving CM… on September 23, 2025 during an official government function organised at Kashmere Gate ISBT, Delhi, for inaugurating DTC bus services from Delhi to Baraut (Uttar Pradesh), which is the genesis of the present complaint, was also procured by the police from the Directorate of Information and Publicity and has been filed on record along with the Action Taken Report,” the court said.
It said that this meant that the evidence which allegedly hurt the complainant’s religious feelings is already on record and so no investigation is required for digging out the same.
“The identity of the speaker, date, venue and words complained of are ascertainable from the material already collected and placed on record. No specific evidence which is beyond the reach of the complainant or which necessarily requires police investigation has been identified/ highlighted by the complainant,” the court said.
It said that the recording and relevant witnesses may be produced or summoned in separate complaint proceedings.
“Further, the comparison between the officials of the Delhi government and Lord Hanuman by the speaker appears to be directed towards the officials and their performance, and at this stage, it can be said that the material does not prima facie disclose the deliberate and malicious intention to insult religion or religious beliefs, an essential ingredient of Section 299 of the BNS,” the court said.
Dismissing the application, the magistrate said a direction for investigation is warranted.
“The complainant is at liberty to lead evidence in accordance with Section 223 of the BNSS. The aspect of cognisance and issuance of process shall be dealt with thereafter in accordance with law,” the court said.
The BNSS provision governs how a magistrate takes cognisance of an offence based on a private complaint.
“List for examination of the complainant and witnesses, if any, on November 19,” the court said.
The Delhi Police on October 15 had submitted its report saying there was no basis for lodging a case as there was no cognisable offence.
“No cognisable offence is made out, and no basis for registration of an FIR is disclosed,” the report had said.
Earlier on October 3, the court had sought a status report from the station house officer (SHO) of Kashmere Gate police station.
(PTI News)
