Jaipur: Rajasthan Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra and other party leaders spent Monday night staging a dharna at the Jaipur Police Commissionerate, sleeping in its corridor, after police did not register an FIR against a Delhi Police woman constable accused of assaulting NSUI leader Ritu Barala.
Leader of the Opposition Tikaram Jully and several women MLAs joined the protest on Tuesday as more party workers gathered outside the commissionerate. Police kept the main gate closed, put up barricades and deployed additional personnel as workers raised slogans demanding registration of the case.
The Congress is demanding a zero FIR against the constable over an alleged assault on Ms. Barala inside a bus carrying detained protesters during a demonstration in Delhi on October 13. Ms. Barala, an NSUI leader from Rajasthan, alleged the constable grabbed her by the neck, pushed her onto a seat, scratched her face and slapped her.
Jaipur Police declined the demand, saying Ms. Barala had already lodged a complaint over the same incident at the Connaught Place police station in Delhi, where the matter is under investigation. "Registering another FIR on the same facts in Rajasthan would not be legally permissible," it said.
Mr. Dotasra said the police were free to register a case against Congress leaders for obstructing official work, but they would not leave without the FIR being registered. He said there could not be two sets of laws in the country.
Leader of the Opposition Mr. Jully questioned why the police were refusing to register a case when there is a legal provision for a zero FIR. Former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot accused the State government of denying justice to a woman because of her association with the Congress.
Rajasthan BJP president Madan Rathore accused the Congress of "creating unnecessary drama" and spreading disorder, saying the complaint should be registered where the incident took place.