The case was lodged on Sunday at Haldwani Kotwali police station on a complaint by Amit Kumar, a 26-year-old resident of Jawahar Nagar Colony who identified himself as a member of the Valmiki community. Police said an investigation had begun into allegations that Gandhi gave a caste-based interpretation to the ceremony and hurt religious and community sentiments.
Gandhi has been booked under Sections 196 and 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, dealing respectively with promoting enmity between groups and deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings. Police also invoked Section 3 of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act, which concerns giving false or frivolous information to a public servant that causes the official to use lawful power to injure or annoy a member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe.
Haldwani Superintendent of Police, City, Manoj Kumar Katyal confirmed that the FIR followed Kumar’s complaint and said the allegations would be investigated thoroughly.
Kumar said in his complaint that he had taken part with other Scheduled Caste community members in a cleanliness drive and religious ritual at the Ramlila Ground on August 11. He maintained that the event was not connected with Kharge’s caste or with any individual and objected to Gandhi portraying the ceremony as an act of untouchability.
The complaint referred to Gandhi’s August 29 press conference in New Delhi, where the Congress leader condemned what he described as a purification exercise conducted after Kharge’s visit. Gandhi called the episode a manifestation of untouchability and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure an FIR under the SC/ST Act against those responsible.
Gandhi had said the issue went beyond Kharge personally and reflected the treatment faced by Dalits. He also linked the episode to what he called the mindset of the BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, while demanding legal action against those who conducted or defended the ritual.
Kumar disputed that characterisation, alleging that Gandhi’s comments had depicted participants, including members of the Valmiki community, as practising untouchability and being anti-Dalit. He claimed the remarks could heighten tensions between communities.
The controversy stems from a havan performed at the Ramlila Ground on August 11, three days after Kharge addressed a Congress public meeting there on August 8. Congress leaders have described the ceremony as a caste-based insult because Kharge belongs to a Scheduled Caste and have demanded action against those involved.
Organisers of the ritual have rejected that allegation. They have said the ceremony followed a cleaning exercise because the venue was left dirty after the Congress programme and have denied that Kharge’s caste had anything to do with it. They have also objected to slogans they said were raised at a site used for religious events.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami rejected Gandhi’s accusations on Saturday, saying those who conducted the havan were not BJP workers. He accused the Congress of trying to create a political issue where none existed.
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra backed her brother’s demand on Sunday, saying the Haldwani episode should be examined under the SC/ST Act and calling on Modi to ensure action if he respected the Constitution. Her intervention kept pressure on the state government as the dispute widened from the local ceremony into a national political confrontation.
The FIR against Rahul Gandhi reverses the immediate focus of the row: a day after he demanded prosecution of those involved in the ceremony, he became the subject of a criminal case arising from his description of it. Police have not treated the complainant’s allegations as established facts and will examine the material cited, including Gandhi’s remarks and records connected with the August 11 event.
