VK Singh gets reprieve in 'dog' remark controversy; court rejects plea to file FIR against minister

New Delhi: A court on Monday dismissed a criminal complaint seeking to lodge an FIR against Union Minister of State for External Affairs General (retd) VK Singh for his alleged “dog” remark. Metropolitan Magistrate Muneesh Garg rejected the plea of advocate Satya Prakash Gautam, seeking to lodge a first information report against Singh under provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. [caption id=“attachment_1145273” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Former Army chief General VK Singh. AFP[/caption] In November, Delhi Police told the court that no offence has been made out against Singh. Singh, a former Indian Army chief, triggered a row on 21 October when he used an analogy of stoning a dog while commenting on the burning of two Dalit children in a Haryana village by upper caste villagers. A criminal complaint was filed last month by advocate Satya Prakash Gautam seeking to lodge a first information report against Singh. “The statement of VK Singh has caused immense damage to the entire community with a view to denigrate the prestige and honour of scheduled caste children with deliberate and malicious intention to hurt the religious feelings of entire scheduled caste community,” the plea said. Gautam said the minister had “deliberately” used such language to insult the community and his words promoted enmity. He told the court that he had requested police to register a case against the minister but police refused. IANS