Another complaint has been filed with the National Human Rights Commission against Balmukund Acharya for violating street vendor laws when instructing Muslim vendors to close their shops.
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — The newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA, Balmukund Acharya, is facing allegations of assaulting and spitting on a Scheduled Caste (SC) community member in Peethawas village in Rajasthan.
A first information report (FIR) has been filed under the SC/ST Act and Sections 323 and 341 of the Indian Penal Code, following a court order.
The MLA from Jaipur’s Hawa Mahal constituency is already embroiled in a controversy for allegedly threatening Muslim vendors and owners of several non-veg hotels and restaurants in the city’s areas like Subhash Chowk, Ramganj Bazaar, Old Amer Road, and other places.
Acharya won the Hawa Mahal seat by defeating Congress candidate R.R. Tiwari with a margin of 974 votes.
The Scheduled Caste (SC) community member, Surajmal, was quoted by The Wire as saying that he approached the Kardhani police station in Jaipur to file a complaint against Balmukund Acharya. “However, they refused to register a complaint. Ultimately, we had to approach the court, and our complaint was registered through the court. The FIR was filed on December 4, a day after Balmukund Acharya won the Hawa Mahal seat.”
The complaint details the assault, threats, and allegations over the illegal encroachment of Surajmal Regar’s land.
Also, a complaint has also been lodged with the National Human Rights Commission against the MLA for violating street vendor laws. This incident occurred when the MLA visited the Hawa Mahal area and instructed Muslim vendors to close their shops.
This FIR encompasses charges under IPC Sections 341 (wrongful restraint) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), along with SC/ST Act provisions. These provisions include 3(1)r SC/ST (intentionally insulting or intimidating a member of a Scheduled Caste or Tribe and abusing them by caste name in public view); 3(1)(s) (abusing any member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe by caste name in any place within public view); and 3(2) via (committing any offence specified in the schedule against a person or property, knowing that such person is a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe or such property belongs to such a member, shall be punishable with such punishment as specified under the IPC for such offenses and shall also be liable to a fine.)
During his “inspection” tour of walled city areas immediately after winning the election, ordered the closure of non-veg shops in the city, saying operations of these shops will not be tolerated at any cost.
“These people don’t even have licence. The Congress administration was not asking them about it. My agenda is to protect Sanatan. Therefore, I will not tolerate such people. Because of these people, non-veg is being cooked openly. The general public is getting worried because of this,” he said in a video which has since gone viral.
He said that due to the non-veg smell, the people have even stopped passing through the roads.
“There are many temples in these areas. People have stopped visiting these temples because of the non-veg smell. It will not be tolerated now under any circumstances,” he said.
The video shows Acharya asking the municipal corporation officials to shut down the non-veg shops in major markets of the city and also asking the owner of a non-veg hotel to remove the encroachment.
“Everyone’s licence will be checked. I will personally check the report from all these shop owners,” Acharya said.
He said that Bangladeshis have set up non-veg shops in Hawa Mahal which is against the rules.
