New Delhi [India], August 21 : The political standoff over the alleged use of pellet guns against student protestor Sahil Lochav during July 20 Jantar Mantar protest came to an ended on Friday with Delhi Police registering an FIR following Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi's nearly eight-hour sit-in at Parliament Street Police Station.
Congress leaders hailed the development in the case as a victory for justice while the BJP accused Gandhi of Indulging in "politics of anarchy" and "cheap, attention-seeking politics."
Gandhi, who had reached the police station along with Lochav and several Congress leaders, said the FIR marked the "first step towards justice" but questioned why it took several hours to register the case.
"This is the first step towards justice. The case has been registered. It has been a month since he was hit by that bullet. Pellets are still lodged in his body; three are in his eye, and he cannot see out of it. Three or four are near his heart. A grave injustice has been done to this young man," Gandhi said after the FIR was registered.
He said he and his supporters arrived at around 11 am or 11.30 am and remained at the police station until the FIR was filed around 7 pm.
"We have been here all this time--it is now nearly a quarter to seven--and only now has the FIR been filed," Gandhi said.
Alleging that senior authorities were responsible for the delay, Gandhi said, "The final approval--the ultimate 'okay'--had to come from the Home Secretary and Amit Shah himself. Only then was the FIR finally issued. So, you can understand who was holding up the FIR."
"These police officers wanted to register it; the others wanted to do it too, but the brakes on justice were being applied from the top," he alleged.
The FIR has been registered under Sections 118 and 125 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023. Section 118 relates to voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means, while Section 125 deals with acts endangering the life or personal safety of others.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had earlier accused the Centre of avoiding accountability over the alleged use of pellet guns against students.
"Those shedding crocodile tears over nationalism are, in reality, the biggest enemies of the country's youth!" Kharge said in a post on X.
He questioned why the country had not been told who ordered the alleged firing on students.
"Amit Shah didn't show up in Parliament for 19 days. The country wasn't told who ordered the firing of Pellet Guns on students and why such brutality was even necessary against our youth?" Kharge said.
Kharge also alleged that Lochav and his mother had repeatedly approached the Delhi Police to register an FIR.
"Now, Sahil, who was seriously injured by the pellets, and his mother are running around in circles with the Delhi Police to file an FIR. No Daily Diary Number, no Acknowledgment, no MLC report from AIIMS," he said.
He said Gandhi had personally gone to the police station and DCP's office with Lochav and his mother.
"What exactly is Amit Shah hiding?" Kharge asked.
"There was a lathi charge on students, tear gas was fired, Pellet Guns were used. Many youth were seriously injured. Our daughters were groped, beaten with lathis and sticks," he alleged.
Kharge said the Congress would continue to stand with affected students.
"Sahil is not alone. Rahul Gandhi and the Congress Party stand with every affected youth. Their FIR will be registered, their voice will not be silenced, and the fight to deliver them justice will be waged with full force," he said.
Congress leaders welcomed the development and credited Gandhi's protest with forcing the registration of the case.
Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said, "Today it was the sheer persistence and perseverance of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi--clearly evident in his six-hour dharna at Parliament Street Police Station--that led to Sahil Lochab's FIR being registered."
The Congress, in a post on X, said, "Jananayak Rahul Gandhi Ji brought Amit Shah and his Delhi Police to their knees by staging a sit-in for nearly seven and a half hours. In the end, they had to register the FIR. They say it right--the world bends, but it takes someone to make it bend."
Congress MP Pawan Khera said registration of an FIR in a cognisable offence was a statutory duty and not a favour.
"Registering an FIR for a cognizable offence is not a favour that the police may choose to grant. It is a statutory right of every citizen and a mandatory duty of the police under Section 173 of the BNSS, 2023," Khera said.
He alleged that the delay was intended to prevent investigators from reaching those responsible for ordering the alleged firing.
Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said, "Once again, under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, truth and justice have triumphed."
Gehlot alleged that Delhi Police had evaded registering an FIR for more than a month and said, "Now, Delhi Police must identify the culprits and take strict action against them."
Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the delay itself exposed a failure of the authorities.
"The fact that a process which should have taken mere minutes was delayed for so long exposes their own failure," Chowdhury said.
Congress leader Supriya Shrinate also praised Gandhi's protest, saying, "Jhukti hai duniya, jhukane wala chahiye. LoP Rahul Gandhi kept sitting for 7.5 hours and until the FIR was registered, he did not move from there."
Congress leader Harish Rawat said Gandhi had taken a solemn pledge to fight injustice.
"Rahul Gandhi has taken a solemn pledge to fight against injustice wherever it occurs. A young man is facing injustice and is trying to file an FIR," Rawat said.
He added, "Registering an FIR is the police's duty and every citizen's right if they have been subjected to an atrocity."
Sahil Lochav, who alleges that pellet guns were used against him during the July 20 student protest, thanked Gandhi after the FIR was registered.
"When I spoke to him recently, he called to ask about my health, I mentioned that my FIR wasn't being registered. He immediately said, 'Let's meet tomorrow; I will go and get your FIR filed.' I want to thank him for helping me so much. This FIR is a first step towards justice," Lochav said.
He said he had been trying to get an FIR registered since August 14.
"It took eight hours to register the FIR, and perhaps it wouldn't have been registered at all if the LoP hadn't supported me. I had been running around trying to get an FIR filed since August 14," he said.
Lochav's lawyer alleged that the family had repeatedly approached the police but faced delays.
"On 14th August we went to the Police Station in Connaught Place... The moment they read the complaint, they gave it back to us and made us sit there for very long," the lawyer said, alleging that the SHO told him they would not take up the case because they had received "order from above".
The Congress also received support from Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
"Rahul Gandhi is doing exactly what the people of the country expect from him. The job of the Leader of the Opposition is to hold the government accountable and make the government answerable, and Rahul Gandhi is doing just that," Abdullah said.
NCP-SP spokesperson Clyde Crasto said the police must now investigate who ordered the alleged use of pellet guns.
"Demand of LoP Rahul Gandhi seeking justice for this youth is justified. The injured youth must be given justice and those who ordered the use of pellet gun must be brought to book," Crasto said.
However, the BJP strongly criticised Gandhi's protest, with Union Minister JP Nadda calling the demonstration "cheap, attention-seeking politics" and "camera-centric drama", arguing that the Supreme Court had already constituted a five-member high-powered committee to examine the July 20 incident.
"The entire nation is once again witnessing the kind of cheap, attention-seeking politics that Rahul Gandhi displayed today outside the Sansad Marg police station," Nadda said.
"The truth is that Rahul Gandhi is staging this 'camera-centric' drama merely to keep himself in the headlines," he added.
BJP leader Virendraa Sachdeva said, "He has no regard for democracy, the constitutional order, or the rule of law. If this isn't called anarchy, then what is? They want to divert attention from the Vande Mataram issue because the Congress has become so hopelessly cornered on it that they are unable to answer to the public... The "Red Book" that the brother-sister duo carries around India--they ought to read it for once. A Supreme Court committee is investigating the entire matter, and the case has already been referred to the Crime Branch, so why do this? But as I said, a circus is staged at various places across the country; today, it is being staged at the police station..."
BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad accused Gandhi of "politics of anarchy" and said the Supreme Court-appointed committee was already examining the matter.
"It is very unfortunate that LoP Rahul Gandhi does politics of anarchy. Currently, he is sitting on dharna at Parliament Street Police Station without permission or prior information," Prasad said.
Union Minister Giriraj Singh also accused Gandhi of trying to take the law into his own hands.
"They want to take the law into their own hands and spread anarchy. The matter is before the Supreme Court; the Supreme Court has constituted a high-powered committee regarding this, and the Crime Branch is investigating," Singh said.
Delhi Minister Ashish Sood said Gandhi was seeking political relevance through such protests.
"Rahul Gandhi seeks to maintain his own political relevance, and that of his party, by keeping himself in the headlines," Sood said.
Haryana Cabinet Minister Anil Vij accused Gandhi of an "obsession with publicity" and said he should trust the Supreme Court-appointed process.
"Even tasks that could be accomplished straightforwardly are turned into a stunt by him," Vij said, adding that Gandhi's aim was to "spread anarchy across India."
The controversy stems from the July 20 student protests at Jantar Mantar, during which Lochav has alleged that pellet guns were used against him. He was subsequently treated at Lady Hardinge Hospital and AIIMS.
Gandhi had earlier claimed that an AIIMS medical report showed more than 200 pellet shells lodged in Lochav's body, including three in his eye and others near his heart.
The Supreme Court on Thursday constituted a five-member High-Powered Expert Committee headed by retired Justice R Subhash Reddy to conduct a fact-finding exercise into allegations of police excesses and violence by protesters. The panel includes former Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Ravi Shankar Jha, former Delhi High Court Justice Shalinder Kaur, former CBI Director Rishi Kumar Shukla and former Meghalaya DGP LR Bishnoi.
The court said the committee would examine allegations of excessive use of force by police, violence by protesters and allegations of harassment and molestation of women protesters. It also directed that CCTV and body-camera footage be handed over to the committee.