Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta on Saturday issued notices to three senior Punjab Police officers including DGP, Jalandhar Police Commissioner, and Special DGP Cyber Cell, giving them 48 hours to respond regarding an FIR filed over a doctored video clip of Assembly proceedings. He has also sought explanations within 48 hours over an FIR registered against Delhi Law Minister Kapil Mishra.
The notices were sent to the senior Police officers for alleged breach of the Delhi Assembly's privileges. Speaking at a press conference, Gupta described the registration of the FIR as "unfortunate", arguing that the video recording used by Punjab Police is the exclusive property of the Delhi Assembly.
The notice states that the House is already seized of the issue, and the video clip has been referred for forensic examination and to the Committee of Privileges. It also conveys the Speaker's concern about the Punjab Police's involvement in a matter considered to fall within the House's privileged domain and seeks a detailed explanation, along with relevant documents, from the relevant authorities.
He emphasised that the use of Assembly footage to register criminal cases has hurt the dignity of the House and represents unwarranted interference with parliamentary privileges.
The Speaker further said that the matter is of extreme seriousness and constitutional importance and is directly linked to the dignity, authority, and privileges of the House. He emphasised that the issue is not confined to any individual or political party.He stated that the video on the basis of which the FIR has been registered is not a personal recording but the official recording of the proceedings of the House, which is wholly the property of the Delhi Assembly. A direct case of privilege violation is therefore made out against him, and the House will consider it seriously.
The controversy centres on a video clip from Delhi Assembly proceedings which Minister Mishra and several BJP legislators shared on social media, alleging that Leader of Opposition Atishi had insulted Guru Tegh Bahadur. Jalandhar Police subsequently registered an FIR against Mishra for uploading and circulating what they termed an "edited and doctored" video of Atishi.
Punjab Police sent the video clip downloaded from Mishra's social media account to the Punjab Forensic Science Laboratory for examination.The forensic report dated 9 January reportedly concluded that Atishi never uttered the word "Guru" in her speech and that the video was deliberately doctored with false captions added.
The Delhi Assembly has requested all related documents and the forensic report from Punjab Police.Gupta stated that further action against the officers will be decided after receiving their replies by 12 January.The Speaker condemned what he termed as misuse of Punjab Police by the AAP government in the neighbouring state.
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