New Delhi, Feb 6 (SocialNews.XYZ) A Delhi court on Friday rejected Congress leader Alka Lamba’s revision plea challenging the framing of criminal charges against her in connection with a protest held at Jantar Mantar last year to demand implementation of women’s reservation in Parliament ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Additional Sessions Judge Dig Vinay Singh of the Rouse Avenue Courts dismissed the revision petition, holding that there was no "patent illegality, perversity or jurisdictional error" in the magistrate’s December 19, 2025, order directing that charges be framed against Lamba.
"As there is no patent illegality, perversity, or jurisdictional error in the impugned order, the present revision petition fails and is dismissed," the court said in its order.
Lamba, the Mahila Congress President, had assailed the order of the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM), which had directed framing of charges against her under Sections 132, 221, 223(a) and 285 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.
The criminal case stems from a protest organised at Jantar Mantar on July 29, 2024, in support of women’s reservation, where Lamba was the main speaker.
According to the prosecution, prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, were in force in the Parliament Street sub-division, with Jantar Mantar being an exempted area.
In its order, the court noted that the prosecution claimed that around 1.30 p.m., Lamba, along with other protesters, moved beyond the permitted protest site towards Tolstoy Road, raised slogans and attempted to "gherao" the Parliament, despite repeated warnings by senior police officials through loud hailers.
Rejecting Lamba’s contention that the protest was peaceful and confined to an exempted zone, the Sessions Court observed that the material on record, including video footage and statements of police witnesses, prima facie showed that the demonstration went beyond the exempted area.
"The videos indicate that the revisionist not only jumped the first barricade but also instigated other protesters to jump the barricades through her gestures," the court said, adding that protesters subsequently breached the second line of barricades and blocked the public road near Sansad Marg by lying on it, thereby obstructing public movement.
The court also rejected the argument that there was an "evidentiary vacuum" due to the absence of any medico-legal certificate or injury report, holding that for offences relating to the use of criminal force, actual physical injury is not a mandatory requirement.
"The standard for framing charges is not proof beyond a reasonable doubt but 'sufficient ground for proceeding'," the judge observed, adding that issues such as the absence of independent witnesses or the nature of the alleged force are matters to be examined during trial.
Finding no merit in Lamba’s revision plea, the Sessions Court upheld the magistrate’s decision to proceed with the trial, concluding that a prima facie case was made out against her for obstructing public servants, disobeying a lawful order and causing obstruction on a public way.
Source: IANS
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