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New Delhi: Congress on Tuesday said that the Uttarakhand Police registered an FIR after several of the party’s SC and ST MPs went to Parliament Street Police Station file a case.in connection with the purification of the venue where grand old party chief Mallikarjun Kharge had addressed a public meeting on August 8.
The Congress alleged that the case was registered only after at least 20 MPs from SC and ST community arrived at the Parliament Street Police Station and had an argument with the Delhi Police.
The delegation of the Congress MPs at the Parliament Street Police station was led by SC Department chairperson Rajendra Pal Gautam, who is also the incharge for Uttar Pradesh.
Earlier in the afternoon, dramatic scene erupted when the Congress leaders arrived at the police station and alleged that how it was not ready to register the zero FIR on its complaint.
Jharkhand incharge K Raju took to X and wrote, “Reached Parliament street Police Station Delhi along with 20 SC/ST MPs of Congress party to file Zero FIR against an act of untouchability punishable under SCs and STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989, committed against Shri Mallikarjun Kharge Ji at Haldwani on 10th August 2026. Even after two hours of persuasion by the MPs, the SHO refused to register Zero FIR. The SHO refused to even give in writing reasons for not filing Zero FIR. If this is what is happening to SC and ST MPs, one can imagine the plight of ordinary SC/ST citizens to register FIR in case of atrocity committed against him or her.”
The Congress leaders camped at the police station for over four hours till the time they didn’t received a copy of the FIR.
Speaking to the media later, Gautam said, “Our first demand was that an FIR should be registered. But what saddens me is that it took three and a half hours for our complaint to be entered in the diary, and the ACP told us, ‘Give me three days’ time. I don’t have staff’. If even the Parliament Street Police Station, under whose jurisdiction the Parliament building comes, does not have staff, then what kind of Home Minister has our country got?
He then said that later, the SHO spoke to the Haldwani police station.
“Then they said, ‘No, we have registered the FIR’. It took us four hours to receive the copy. It is shameful that even today, when the law says that if a cognizable offence has taken place anywhere, and the information reaches the police through any means, the police are duty-bound to register a case,” he added.
Even Lok Sabha MP Varsha Gaikwad said: “Our demand has been fulfilled because a case has been registered in Uttarakhand. But what we were saying was that when 20–22 MPs came here, as soon as we came, they first closed the gate. We had come here because of an incident, and an FIR should be registered.”
She also said that the way untouchability has continued in this country even after 80 years, and the way BJP leaders came forward to encourage and support it, we oppose that.
“Manusmriti will not work in this country. The Constitution will work in this country. Equality will prevail in this country, fraternity will prevail, and justice will prevail equally for everyone. But unfortunately, we saw that we were made to sit here for three and a half hours. They said there was no staff. So, what I want to say is that today, an FIR has been registered. We will fight the legal battle, we will fight in Parliament, and we will also fight on the streets. In this country, once again, the Constitution has won, and Manusmriti has lost,” she added.
The ‘shuddikaran yagna’ (purification ritual) incident unfolded on August 11 at the Ramlila Ground in Haldwani. The alleged ritual, conducted by an outfit, followed a political rally addressed by Kharge at the venue on August 8.
Kharge and the Congress party had been demanding the registration of an FIR by the Haldwani police in connection with the incident.
