The Delhi Police filed a First Information Report (FIR) on Monday against journalist Rana Ayyub for allegedly insulting Hindu deities and spreading “anti-India sentiment.” The FIR follows a complaint by advocate Amita Sachdeva, and was registered after Chief Judicial Magistrate Himanshu Raman Singh of the Saket court directed police action on January 25. The court stated that the complaint disclosed cognizable offences, warranting an FIR.
Sachdeva had previously filed a complaint against Ayyub on November 11 via the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, but after receiving no response, she approached the court for a police investigation. The complaint accuses Ayyub of promoting enmity between religious groups and engaging in malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings. It includes social media posts from 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2022, which Sachdeva claims insulted Hindu deities.
The complaint specifically accuses Ayyub of demeaning Hindu god Ram, glorifying Ravana, disrespecting figures like Sita and Draupadi, and labeling Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar as a terrorist sympathiser. The complaint invokes sections of the Indian Penal Code related to promoting enmity between groups and public mischief.
This case is one of several involving Sachdeva, who had also filed a case against a Delhi art gallery for displaying controversial paintings by the late artist MF Husain. However, her plea seeking registration of an FIR against the gallery was dismissed by a Delhi court last week.
