A Delhi court has demanded a response from the police regarding a petition seeking the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against student activist Nishu Azad and her father, Sanjay Azad. This plea arises from claims of objectionable social media posts concerning Hindu deities.
Chief Judicial Magistrate Mridul Gupta has tasked the Delhi Police with providing an action taken report on the matter. The court has scheduled the next hearing for January 2027.
The petition was filed by advocate Amita Sachdeva, who had previously lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police. Her complaint highlights four social media posts, allegedly published between September 2023 and August 2026, which reference Hindu gods Shiva and Krishna, as well as goddesses Saraswati and Durga.
Sachdeva argues that these posts were intentionally shared and remained accessible online despite her efforts to have them removed. The petition calls for an FIR to be filed under Sections 299 and 196 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), addressing the outraging of religious sentiments and promoting enmity and hatred, respectively. Additionally, breaches of the Information Technology Act have been cited.
Recently, Nishu Azad and Sanjay Azad drew public attention after right-wing influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj reportedly assaulted Sanjay Azad during protests organized by the Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. Bhardwaj was subsequently arrested for the incident but later released on interim bail.
