SC to hear plea over pregnant journalist's allegation against Rahul Gandhi on Oct 26

New Delhi, October 16 (IANS):The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear, on October 26, an application concerning a pregnant journalist's allegation that Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi pushed and pulled her during the Opposition INDIA bloc leaders’ march to the apex court premises over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.  The application was mentioned before Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant by senior advocate Gaurav Bhatia, who sought a date for hearing the application and clarification on whether notice had been issued in the connected matters.Responding to Bhatia’s query, the CJI-led Bench clarified that notice had already been issued in all the matters mentioned before it on Thursday and said the application would be listed on October 26.The journalist, Richa Parashar, who works with news website Oneindia, alleged that Gandhi grabbed her hand and pulled her aggressively while she was covering the march, following which she was pushed by his security personnel and fell to the ground.She was subsequently hospitalised.Parashar, who is three months pregnant, alleged that the incident took place amid the commotion during the Opposition leaders’ protest on the Supreme Court premises.The Congress has denied the allegations, describing them as politically motivated, while party leaders and supporters have circulated videos of the incident, questioning whether the visuals establish that Gandhi pushed the journalist.The development comes a day after the Supreme Court issued notice on a separate plea seeking safeguards against political demonstrations in and around court premises in the backdrop of the October 12 protest march.A Bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, while issuing notice on the plea, directed the preservation of CCTV footage and other digital evidence relating to the incident.During Thursday’s proceedings, Bhatia had submitted that it was unacceptable for the Supreme Court to have to deal with a political procession, prompting the CJI-led Bench to observe that “nobody can browbeat” the apex court.The Opposition march was undertaken by INDIA bloc leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, after the CJI declined a request from him and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge to meet him and submit a memorandum on the SIR exercise. The CJI had advised the Opposition leaders to approach the Supreme Court through the established legal process, observing that convening a meeting to discuss pending cases would be contrary to the constitutional principle of separation of powers.