'Times Now' Reporter's Arrest| 'Allegations Serious, She Utterred Abusive Words Against Complainant's Caste Publically': Punjab Police To High Court

Filing an affidavit in the matter pertaining to the arrest of Times Now's reporter Bhawana Kishore, the Punjab Police has informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that allegations against Kishore are grave and serious and that she had uttered defamatory, derogatory and abusive words against the caste of the complainant publically.

The affidavit has been filed by the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Emergency Response cum Nodal officer, SC/ST Cases, Ludhiana Nirmal Singh in the quashing plea filed by Bhawana Gupta (Kishore) and two of her colleagues.

It may be noted that Kishore has been booked under the SC/ST Act as well as under Sections 279 (rash driving), 337 (hurting any person by acting rashly or negligently as to endanger human life) and 427 (commits mischief and thereby causes loss or damage) of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly knocking down a Dalit woman with her car and verbally abusing her on May 5. 

She was arrested on May 5, however, with the intervention of the High Court, she was granted interim bail on May 6. The Court had also made a prima facie remark that a case under SC/ST Act was not made out against her.

In the affidavit filed by the ACP, Ludhiana, it has been stated that the complainant has approached the police stating that on May 05, she along with another woman was going to the inauguration of a Mohalla Clinic by the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and when théy both were getting down from the e-rickshaw, a car (in which Kishore was sitting) carelessly hit her from one side due to which she suffered an injury.

The affidavit further states that the complainant stated that the driver of the car, after hitting her, came out and started arguing with her and while she was confronting him, another man and woman (Kishore) came down from the car and they also started abusing her. The woman (Kishore) allegedly used casteist words and abused her. Against this backdrop, the complainant requested to take appropriate legal action against them.

Justifying the registration of the FIR against the petitioners, the affidavit further states that the allegations raised by the petitioners that the aforementioned FIR has been registered against them with political motive are totally false, vague and baseless and that there is very convincing, tangible and direct evidence against the petitioners which has been collected by local police.

In view of this, the affidavit prays that the petition of the petitioners be dismissed.

Admitting the affidavit, the Court today heard the matter and deferred the case to May 9. The Bench of Justice Augustine George Masih also extended the interim bail granted to Kishore on May 6, till May 9.

Senior Advocate RS Rai, Senior Advocate Chetan Mittal along with Advocates Pavan Naran and Mayank Aggarwal for the petitioners

Advocate General Vinod Ghai with Senior DAG, Punjab Gaurav Garg Dhuriwala for the state

Case title - Bhawna Gupta and others vs. State of Punjab [CRM-M-23437-2023]

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