Delhi court dismisses plea seeking FIR against Kharge for remarks on PM Modi

Delhi court dismisses plea against Congress president for alleged hate speech, no FIR to be lodged.

A Delhi court dismissed a plea filed by a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) member to direct the police to register an FIR against Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. The complaint sought action against Mr. Kharge over comments he had made against Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a rally in Karnataka in April last year.

However, on December 9, judicial magistrate Chatinder Singh took cognisance of the complaint by advocate Ravinder Gupta and recorded his statement.

Mr. Gupta said that the Congress president gave a “hate speech” on April 27, 2023, in which he made a scathing remark against the Prime Minister. He alleged that on the same day, Mr. Kharge, in other election rallies, had clarified that his statement was not directed against Mr. Modi but against the RSS and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

“....being a member of RSS the complainant is feeling defamed since he is an ardent follower and active member of RSS,” the complainant added.

The court said that all the material related to the case was available with the complainant and no technical or complex investigation was required by the police. It observed that all the accused persons were ascertained in the complaint and hence no facts needed to be unearthed by the police, nor there was any need for any custodial interrogation.

“The evidence is well within the reach of the complainant and no assistance of police is required to gather the same. The facts of the case are not such that would warrant a detailed and complex investigation to be carried out by the state agency,” the court said while dismissing the plea to lodge an FIR against Mr. Kharge.

The court posted the matter for pre-summoning of evidence on March 27, 2025.