On Wednesday, April 26, the Gauhati High Court denied interim relief to Youth Congress national president Srinivas BV in the sexual harassment case. Srinivas BV in his plea sought the quashing of the FIR against him by Assam Pradesh Youth Congress president Angkita Dutta, who was expelled from the party after she levelled allegations against Srinivas BV.
Before the petitioner’s interim request was taken into consideration, Justice Ajit Borthakur noted that a review of the case diary, including the victim woman’s statement under Section 164 Cr.P.C., was absolutely necessary for a fair decision.
Consequently, the Court refused to grant the interim plea to quash the FIR, noting that it would only be taken into consideration once it had received the scanned copy of the case diary and service of notice on the complainant.
On April 18, Angkita Dutta had posted a series of tweets wherein she opened up about facing harassment at the hands of Congress leader Srinivas BV and also accused the Congress high command of a lack of interest in her case.
In a complaint filed at the Dispur police station in Assam on April 19, Angkita Dutta accused Srinivas BV of being “sexist, chauvinistic, and outraging a woman’s modesty.” She claimed that over the past six months, Srinivas BV had been mentally and physically harassing her, making sexist comments, and threatening to take legal action if she complains to prominent Congress leaders.
Congress party instead of taking the allegations made by Angkita Dutta seriously and acting accordingly decided to serve a legal notice to Dutta. Following this, on April 22, the Congress party expelled Assam Pradesh Youth Congress President, Angkita Dutta, from the primary membership of the Congress party for six years for ‘anti-party activities.’
