A Delhi court has dismissed a complaint seeking registration of an FIR against Chief Minister Rekha Gupta over her alleged remarks comparing Delhi government officials to Lord Hanuman during an official programme.
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Ashwani Panwar of the Rouse Avenue Courts rejected the complaint filed by Ram Niwas Sharma under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023.
The complainant had sought criminal action against Gupta, alleging that her comments during a government event had hurt the religious sentiments of devotees of Lord Hanuman.
The controversy relates to remarks allegedly made by Gupta on September 23, 2025, at the ISBT Kashmere Gate during a programme marking the commencement of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) bus services between Delhi and Baraut in Uttar Pradesh.
According to Sharma, the Chief Minister had compared government officials to Lord Hanuman, suggesting that they remembered their powers only when their tails caught fire. He alleged that the statement amounted to an insult to the deity and attracted prosecution under Section 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which deals with deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings.
Opposing the registration of an FIR, the Delhi Police had informed the court that the material gathered during its inquiry did not disclose any cognisable offence against the Chief Minister.
The police examined the complete video recording of the programme and its transcript, maintaining that the remarks could not be assessed in isolation from the broader context of the speech.
According to the police, Gupta was appreciating the dedication, commitment and performance of government employees by drawing a positive comparison with the qualities associated with Lord Hanuman.
The police further maintained that the speech neither ridiculed the deity nor demonstrated any intention to insult religious beliefs or deliberately hurt the sentiments of devotees.
It had also contended that the complainant had relied on selected portions of the address, thereby presenting the remarks without their complete context.
Sharma had approached the court seeking directions for registration of an FIR against the Chief Minister, arguing that the alleged remarks were made at a public function in the presence of government officials and members of the public.
The complaint invoked Section 299 of the BNS, which criminalises deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of a class of citizens by insulting their religion or religious beliefs.
The court has now rejected the complaint, bringing the proceedings seeking criminal action against the Chief Minister to a close.
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