Non-cognizable report filed against Parvesh; Delhi AAP MLA faces FIR

Delhi Police on Monday registered a non-cognizable report against Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh for slapping a 22-year-old man during a road inspection in Tilak Nagar on Sunday.

The report — a police diary entry for a minor offence, where no FIR is registered and no arrest can be made without a Magistrate’s order — was filed for voluntarily causing hurt based on a complaint by Sahib Singh, an aide to Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) local MLA Jarnail Singh, who said he was recording a video when the Minister slapped him.

The police have also registered an FIR against the Tilak Nagar MLA for “obstructing” public servants in the discharge of their duty, an officer said.

Meanwhile, Opposition parties upped the ante against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the attack on the youth.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to get Mr. Parvesh arrested to “win the hearts of Gen Z”, saying, “If a BJP Minister publicly slaps a youngster, how will Gen Z connect with the Prime Minister?”

‘Arrogance of power’

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge denounced what he described as the “arrogance of power”. “Delhi’s Ministers are slapping youth. Under [Union Home Minister] Amit Shah’s watch, youth were baton-charged at Jantar Mantar,” he said.

Earlier in the day, the AAP chief visited the spot where Mr. Jarnail had peeled off portions of the road surface by hand in the presence of Mr. Parvesh. He alleged rampant corruption in the construction of roads and sought action against those responsible. “Then, Modiji, you will not need to make reels at midnight, nor will you need to go bhajan clubbing and Gen Z across the country will connect with you,” he said. AAP later held a protest seeking an FIR against Mr. Parvesh, with party’s Delhi unit chief Saurabh Bharadwaj saying they will march to the police chief’s office on Tuesday to demand an FIR against the Minister.

Mr. Parvesh hit back, saying the country had witnessed how “young girls are being beaten” by Punjab Police, referring to the agitation on the campus of Lovely Professional University over the alleged rape of a student. “Kejriwalji, you also have a daughter, and you have not said a single word about it, neither has the Punjab CM [Bhagwant Mann],” he said.

(With inputs from PTI)