'When did it become criminal offense?': CJP's Saurav Das after woman booked over 'abusive' remarks against PM Modi

The police said that they filed a ‘zero FIR’ in Noida and sent it to the Parliament Street police station in New Delhi for further investigation. Cockroach Janta Party spokesperson Saurav Das on Friday came in defence of the woman who was booked for allegedly using abusive language against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Jantar Mantar protest and said that the FIR filed against her was the “misuse of criminal machinery”.CJP chief spokesperson Saurav Das said that "profanity does not attract criminal case". (ANI)The woman was allegedly seen using abusive language against PM Modi during the Jantar Mantar protest on July 23 in a viral video and was booked on charges of “intentional insult”, “public mischief” and defamation, Hindustan Times reported earlier.The case was filed after a Ghaziabad resident approached the Expressway police station in Noida, police said on Thursday.Also read: Woman booked for using abusive language against PM Modi at CJP-led Jantar Mantar protest‘MPs have criminal cases against them’Criticising the move, Das said that using abusive language was a condemnable but cannot be treated as a criminal offence.“Profanity does not attract criminal case. 50% of Lok Sabha MPs have criminal cases against them, close to 100 MPs in the BJP. The Police can focus their energy towards them, not a 25-year old! Harassment of the young must STOP immediately!” Das wrote in a post on X.He said that “using the criminal justice machinery to target and harass" protesters "through the police is absolutely unjustifiable.”“Since when has using abusive language become a criminal offense in this country? People use such language in everyday life all the time,” Das told news agency ANI."This is utterly condemnable. I once again appeal to the government and its police machinery to stop harassing the youth. Stop targeting young people in this way, and leave this girl alone. Such misuse of the police force in these kinds of cases is completely unacceptable..." he added.Also read: 'Didn't want headlines, wanted solutions': Raghav Chadha on why he didn't speak on NEET paper leak issue‘Zero FIR filed’The police said that they filed a ‘zero FIR’ in Noida and sent it to the Parliament Street police station in New Delhi for further investigation. A ‘zero FIR’ can be filed in any police station irrespective of the place of incident or jurisdiction.A resident of Ghaziabad, Smriti Singh, approached Noida police on Wednesday and filed the complaint. She alleged that the woman “used abusive and objectionable language in public against the Prime Minister of India”.“This act not only hurt the dignity of a constitutional office but was also allegedly intended to spread hatred and disturb public peace,” reads her complaint as per the FIR, accessed by HT.Singh also told HT that several videos of the woman were circulating on social media in which she can be heard using “abusive language” against PM and “even his mother”.“It is unacceptable and tarnishes our country's image on a public platform. When I came to know about the posts, I confirmed her identity with her friends through social media only and approached the police to take strict action against her to send a message in society that abusive language cannot be used for views and followers,” she added.(With inputs from Arun Singh)Nikita Sharma is a Senior Content Producer with Hindustan Times. She is a Delhi-based digital journalist with five years of experience writing and editing news stories across beats including crime, politics, tech, trends and much more, both national and international. At Hindustan Times, she is part of the news team and focuses on breaking news, keeping a track of what is happening where, and chasing ever-developing news stories. She has a penchant for covering crime, geopolitics, and Indian politics with a keen eye for stories often overlooked in the daily news cycle. At Hindustan Times, she has extensively covered several key events including the US Presidential elections, Air India plane crash, Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor, US’ tariff war, and others. As a Delhi aficionado, she particularly enjoys roaming and writing about the national capital — its heritage, food, art and culture, and the many problems that come with it — the pollution, waterlogging, traffic, and more. Nikita did her Bachelor in Journalism and Mass Communication from GGSIPU and started working as a digital journalist in 2021. During her first stint, she covered hyperlocal news at a Delhi-based newsroom, writing and editing stories on builder-buyer conflicts, civic issues such as potholes, waterlogging, lack of facilities at hospitals in Delhi, crippling of the city during peak monsoon season. She also wrote features covering Delhi’s art exhibitions, heritage walks, artist profiles, museums, classical Hindustani music concerts and dance shows. She entered mainstream news in 2023 and has previously worked at NDTV.Read More