Plea in SC seeks CBI probe into Gargi College incident

A petition was moved in the Supreme Court seeking a court-monitored CBI probe into the alleged molestation of students at a cultural fest at Gargi College, a women's college under Delhi University.

Advocate M.L. Sharma moved the PIL seeking a direction from the top court to the investigating agency to seize camera footage along with other video material.

"The state government took no action. It is a clear criminal conspiracy hatched by a political party to deploy accused persons to provoke the Delhi public for manipulate voting in their favour. Despite presence of Delhi Police ... on February 6, neither the principal nor other state authorities tried to stop and arrest the accused," the PIL stated.

The students, who were allegedly molested, shared their experience on Instagram and narrated the incident which occurred on February 6, alleging that security personnel were mere bystanders while the unruly group molested women on the campus.

The plea termed the incident a conspiracy in the wake of Delhi elections, which were due on February 8. "The entire incident is being supported/protected by the state government and no action has been taken till now to prosecute the accused. Therefore, unless this court takes action, real political persons and the accused will not be arrested," the plea said.

The petition claimed that deliberate chanting of religious slogans indicated the incident was politically motivated. Besides college security, Delhi Police and paramilitary force personnel were stationed in the vicinity of the college.

The police have registered a criminal case under various sections and is investigating the matter. - IANS