FIR against Rathore, TV anchor for misquoting Rahul Gandhi remark

HT has seen a copy of the FIR, in which complainant Ram Singh Kaswan, a Congress leader, said that Rohit Ranjan intentionally linked Rahul Gandhi’s statements on the vandalisation of his office to the Udaipur incident in an attempt to incite public sentiments.

An FIR has been filed against Zee TV anchor Rohit Ranjan, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and others for allegedly presenting Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on the vandalisation of his office in Kerala as his statement on the brutal Udaipur hate crime.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi. (ANI)

HT has seen a copy of the FIR, in which complainant Ram Singh Kaswan, a Congress leader, said that Rohit Ranjan intentionally linked Rahul’s statements on the vandalisation of his office to the Udaipur incident in an attempt to incite public sentiments.

In the clip, Rahul called the SFI activists who vandalised his office “children” and said that he does not have any anger towards them. The channel, however, aired the comment as Rahul’s remarks towards the two men — Riyaz Akhtari and Gaus Mohammad— who killed tailor Kanhaiya Lal. The channel later apologised for the error. In his complaint, Kaswan alleged that Rathore and others tweeted the clip in an attempt to create animosity among people.

The FIR has been registered against IPC Section 504 (punishment for provocation), 505 ( Statements conducing to public mischief), 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups), 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage reli­gious feelings), 120B (Punishment of criminal conspiracy). HT tried reaching Rathore for a comment but he did not respond to calls or messages.

Rajasthan’s deputy leader of opposition Rajendra Rathore rejected the complaint. “Rahul Gandhi’s statements are always meaningless... The complaint is a publicity stunt,” he said.