The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an application alleging that Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, assaulted a pregnant journalist during the INDIA bloc’s march to the Supreme Court on October 12. The matter was mentioned before a bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi by Senior Advocate Gaurav Bhatia, who is also the BJP’s national spokesperson. The bench indicated that the plea is likely to be taken up for hearing on October 26 or October 27. According to the application, the journalist, who was reportedly two months pregnant, sustained injuries after being pushed during the march.

The allegations were first raised during an earlier hearing related to the ongoing protests and claims of harassment of journalists by the Delhi Police. At that time, Gaurav Bhatia urged the Supreme Court to take note of the alleged incident involving Rahul Gandhi, stating that the matter required immediate attention. However, the bench declined to act on an oral submission and directed that a separate petition be filed. Bhatia later filed the application, arguing that the seriousness of the allegations warranted an impartial investigation, preservation of CCTV footage, and appropriate legal action if responsibility is established.

The alleged incident is linked to the INDIA bloc’s protest march held on October 12, when Rahul Gandhi and several opposition leaders reached the Supreme Court to challenge the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging large-scale voter deletions and irregularities. The protest has since become the subject of multiple legal proceedings, with the Supreme Court also issuing notices to Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, the Congress party, and others in connection with the march. The court will now examine the fresh application concerning the alleged assault during the upcoming hearing.