An FIR was registered against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) spokesperson Priyanka Bharti, who is accused of tearing the pages of the Manusmriti.
| Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
A court in Aligarh district of Uttar Pradesh recently rejected a closure report submitted by the police in the First Information Report (FIR) registered against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) spokesperson Priyanka Bharti, who is accused of tearing the pages of the Manusmriti, the Hindu text on social order, during a live debate on TV.
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Aligarh, Rashi Tomar on September 6 directed the police to conduct further investigation in the case, and submit a fresh report.
The court’s order came on a protest petition filed by Bharat Tiwari, secretary of the Rashtriya Savarna Parishad (national upper caste council).
Mr. Tiwari, in his complaint lodged in December 2024, had alleged that Ms. Bharti had committed a grave insult to the sacred Manusmriti by tearing it on live television, which had hurt the religious sentiments of members of the Hindu community. Ms. Bharti had provided false information on the Manusmriti to create riots across the country, Mr. Tiwari alleged. The video of the incident was widely circulated via TV and mobile platforms, he said.
On the petitioner’s complaint, the Aligarh police booked Ms. Bharti under Section 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings).
In his protest application, Mr. Tiwari alleged that the Investigating Officer, under the influence of Ms. Bharti, had “not applied his legal mind”, and had filed a closure report in a mechanical manner, saying the incident had taken place in Delhi, and no crime had taken place in Aligarh.
Ms. Bharti had also approached the Allahabad High Court earlier this year, seeking the quashing of the FIR against her.
The High Court had said the Manusmriti was a holy book, and tearing it on a live TV debate was a reflection of a malicious intention. “We find that the act of tearing pages of ‘Manusmriti’ holy book of a particular religion in a live TV debate which was being organised by the two TV channels…..was nothing but prima facie reflection of a malicious and deliberate intention of the petitioner, and is an act done without any lawful excuse or without any just cause,” the Bench of Justice Vivek Kumar Birla and Justice Anish Kumar Gupta said.
Published – September 15, 2025 10:53 pm IST
