Delhi police seek proof from CPI(M) MP months after he sought probe into cyberbullying of Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri

Nearly five months after CPI(M) MP John Brittas wrote to Home Minister Amit Shah seeking a probe into the cyberbullying of Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri during Operation Sindoor, the Delhi police have sought proof from him to substantiate his complaint. 

Responding to the Delhi police’s request, Mr. Brittas submitted “screenshots, web links and press reports”. In a letter addressed to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Manishi Chandra, he also pointed out that as per the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, once information relating to a cognisable offence is received, the police are dutybound to register a First Information Report and commence investigation. 

Section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, Mr. Brittas in his letter mentions, states that every information relating to the commission of a cognisable offence can be given by any person, irrespective of the area where the offence is committed, to the officer in-charge of a police station, either orally, in writing, or by electronic communication. “The BNSS does not restrict such reporting only to the direct victim of the offence. Once such information is received, it is obligatory for the police to reduce it into writing, enter it in the prescribed register, and act upon it,” the MP wrote. 

He further pointed out that the abusive and threatening posts in question were already in the public domain and had been extensively reported by the media. “To insist that corroborating evidence must be furnished by the complainants themselves is contrary to the very spirit of Section 173, BNSS. Police cannot abdicate their statutory duty by shifting the burden of proving a cognisable offence onto the informant at the threshold stage,” Mr. Brittas wrote.