New Delhi: Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Friday criticised the Centre over the registration of an FIR against a 25-year-old woman for allegedly using abusive language against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest at Jantar Mantar, accusing the government of attempting to silence the country’s youth.
In a post on X, Gandhi alleged that the Narendra Modi government was targeting Generation Z through police action against protesters.
“PM Modi and Amit Shah — you cannot threaten Gen Z into silence. First you broke their bones. Now you are filing FIRs and taking down their accounts. You are India’s past. Be careful about how you treat India’s future,” Gandhi wrote.
The woman, identified as Ruchika Singh, has been booked over alleged objectionable remarks made during the July 23 protest at Jantar Mantar. According to the complaint, her comments were derogatory towards the office of the Prime Minister and had the potential to disturb public peace and promote disharmony.
Police initially registered a Zero FIR at the Expressway Police Station in Noida before transferring the case to Parliament Street Police Station in New Delhi for further investigation.
The Cockroach Janta Party also criticised the police action. Its spokesperson, Saurav Das, reportedly said while the language allegedly used by the protester could be objectionable, invoking the criminal justice system against demonstrators was unwarranted.
Das told media that individuals aggrieved by defamatory remarks were free to pursue civil or criminal defamation proceedings, but maintained that using criminal machinery against protesters was unacceptable. At the same time, he appealed to young protesters to exercise restraint in their language and urged the police not to misuse their powers for political purposes.
The controversy comes a day after the Delhi government announced that no legal action would be taken against those arrested during the anti-paper leak protests, except individuals with a criminal background. Withdrawal of criminal cases against protesters had been one of the key demands raised by the CJP before it called off its agitation.
Meanwhile, the BJP has moved a breach of privilege notice against Rahul Gandhi over remarks he made during the Lok Sabha debate on the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026.
BJP MP Anurag Thakur submitted the notice to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla under Rules 222 and 223 of the Rules of Procedure, alleging that Gandhi used expressions such as “idiots” and “andh bhakts” during his speech in Parliament. Thakur also objected to Gandhi’s allegations against Union Home Minister Amit Shah, describing them as baseless.
In his complaint, Thakur argued that the expressions used by the Congress leader fall within the category of unparliamentary language identified in previous compilations issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat. He further contended that the remarks violated Rule 362, which prohibits personal references during parliamentary proceedings, and amounted to contempt of the House by using derogatory language against a section of citizens.
