Congress leader Alka Lamba. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday (February 25, 2026) asked the city police to reply to a plea by Congress leader Alka Lamba challenging an FIR and charges against her in a case related to an assault on police personnel during a protest at Jantar Mantar here in 2024.The court issued notice to the city police on Ms. Lamba’s plea seeking a direction to quash the FIR and all consequential proceedings, including the chargesheet and framing of charges.The prosecution has accused the Congress leader of obstructing police and blocking a public road while holding a protest in support of women’s reservation at Jantar Mantar on July 29, 2024.On December 19, 2025, a magisterial court had ordered framing charges for the offences of assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of duty, obstruction of a public official, disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant and danger or obstruction in a public way.In her petition, Ms. Lamba said the present FIR was a “classic case of over-criminalisation of a peaceful protest” and continuation of the proceedings would result in grave miscarriage of justice.“The prosecution is vitiated by arbitrariness and selective attribution, inasmuch as a peaceful protest has been converted into a prosecution against a single public figure without legally reliable and specific particularisation of overt acts attributable to the Petitioner, thereby undermining fairness in criminal process,” the plea said.On February 6, the sessions court here ruled that the magisterial court exercised its judicial mind in concluding that a prima facie case was made out against Ms. Lamba. Published - February 26, 2026 04:00 am IST
