A Delhi court on Friday, November 6, dismissed an application seeking registration of an FIR against Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta over remarks she allegedly made comparing government officials with Lord Hanuman during an official programme in September 2025, Live Law and Bar and Bench reported.

Source: Live Law

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Ashwani Panwar of the Rouse Avenue Courts passed the order on the application moved by complainant Ram Niwas Sharma under Section 175(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, alongside his complaint under Section 223 of the BNSS. Sharma had sought action against the Chief Minister under Section 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which covers deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings.

The court held that the material placed before it did not prima facie disclose any deliberate and malicious intention to insult religion or religious beliefs, and that the comparison in the speech appeared to be directed at government officials and their performance, so the essential ingredients of a Section 299 offence were not prima facie made out, according to reports of the order. The court was not satisfied that a direction for investigation under Section 175(3) was warranted and dismissed the application.

The complaint relates to a programme on September 23, 2025, at Kashmere Gate ISBT in Delhi, where the Delhi Transport Corporation's Delhi–Baraut interstate AC bus service was launched. According to the complainant, Gupta said the Delhi government's officials were all like Hanuman and remembered their full power only when their tails caught fire, and forgot it before that — an alleged remark the complainant said hurt the religious sentiments of Hanuman devotees. The remark is reported here as the complainant's allegation, as recorded in the court reports.

The Delhi Police opposed the plea. In its status and action-taken reports, the police told the court that its inquiry had found no cognisable offence made out against the Chief Minister, ANI reported. The police had filed its status report on October 15 giving the Chief Minister a clean chit on the complaint.

Source: ANI via Daily Prabhat

The case has not entirely closed. The court clarified that the complainant would be at liberty to lead evidence in accordance with Section 223 of the BNSS, and ANI reported that the matter has been listed for November 19 for recording the complainant's statement. The detailed order was yet to be uploaded when the reports were published, according to ANI and LawChakra.

Source: Bar and Bench