Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta has granted a three-day extension to senior Punjab police officials. They must now submit their replies by January 15 regarding the controversial registration of an FIR in the Atishi video clip case.
Notice Issued to Top Police Officials
On Monday evening, Speaker Gupta extended the deadline for the Punjab Director General of Police, the Special DGP for Cyber Crime, and the Jalandhar Commissioner of Police. These officers initially received notices on January 10, with a Monday deadline for their responses.
The police officers requested additional time to prepare their submissions. Gupta accommodated this request, pushing the new deadline to January 15. The speaker demands written explanations about the entire incident.
Documents Required for Submission
The officials must provide several key documents along with their explanations. These include a copy of the original complaint, the FIR document, and the forensic laboratory report. The speaker wants all relevant paperwork submitted by the stipulated time.
Assembly Proceedings Spark Investigation
The matter first surfaced in the Delhi Assembly after Jalandhar police issued a statement on January 9. Police claimed forensic examination revealed the video clip containing Atishi's audio was doctored. Authorities downloaded the audio from Delhi Minister Kapil Mishra's X account for analysis.
Speaker Gupta addressed journalists at a press conference on January 10. He described the FIR registration as extremely unfortunate. Gupta emphasized this action represents a breach of the Delhi Assembly's privilege.
Constitutional Concerns Raised
"This constitutes an attack on the Constitution of India," Gupta stated firmly. He clarified the video in question originated from official assembly recordings, not personal media. The recording remains the exclusive property of the legislative house.
Gupta expressed serious concern about the misuse of assembly property. Registering an FIR against a house member and minister based on this material creates a problematic precedent. The speaker issued notices to the three police officials specifically for this privilege breach.
"Our next course of action will depend entirely on their replies," Gupta explained. The assembly will determine subsequent steps after reviewing the police responses.
Background of the FIR Registration
Police registered the FIR concerning former Delhi Chief Minister Atishi's video late on January 7. This occurred several hours after BJP, Shiromani Akali Dal, and Congress leaders shared the content publicly. The complaint originated from Iqbal Singh, an AAP supporter residing in Mithu Basti.
Singh filed complaints against multiple individuals. These included Kapil Mishra, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, Congress MLAs Pargat Singh and Sukhpal Singh Khaira, along with other unspecified persons. Interestingly, Jalandhar police reproduced the names exactly as written in the complaint.
However, authorities did not explicitly list these individuals as accused in the official FIR document. The police maintained the names from the complaint without formally designating them as accused parties. This distinction creates legal ambiguity about the case's actual targets.
