Delhi HC quashes 17-year-old attempt to murder case against academic Madhu Kishwar

The Delhi High Court has quashed a 17-year-old attempt to murder case against academic Madhu Kishwar, noting that the first information report against her was a “maliciously motivated counterblast” to an earlier case in which she had accused the complainant of assaulting her, Bar and Bench reported on Wednesday.

In an order passed on October 16, Justice Amit Mahajan said that the complaint against Kishwar appeared to be a retaliatory move by the Basoya family, who had earlier been convicted in a case filed by Kishwar over the same incident.

The FIR against Kishwar was registered in 2008 over an incident that took place on December 31, 2007, in Delhi’s Sewa Nagar Street Vendors’ Market, Bar and Bench reported.

Kishwar, who runs the human rights organisation Manushi, had alleged that the Basoya family runs a string of illegal businesses in the area.

According to her, the incident occurred while she was photographing illegal encroachments in the market.

The Basoyas, however, alleged that Kishwar had instructed her driver to run them over with a car during an argument over shop allotments, according to Bar and Bench.

They also alleged that Kishwar and her associates assaulted them, causing serious injuries.

Based on this complaint, Kishwar was booked under sections of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to attempt to murder, voluntarily causing...

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