New Delhi: A court Saturday directed police to immediately register an FIR on a complaint filed by the family of deceased Tarun Butolia over alleged criminal intimidation and caste-based abuse by relatives of the accused.Holding that a preliminary inquiry was impermissible under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, additional sessions judge Shivali Bansal said police were “duty-bound” to register an FIR once a cognisable offence was disclosed.According to advocate Sumit Kumar, on April 13, seven-eight women in burqas allegedly entered Babu Khan’s house, abused Butolia’s mother, Laxmi Devi, used a caste slur and threatened to have her other son killed unless she withdrew the murder case. Alleging no FIR was registered despite approaching police, she also sought protection from Delhi High Court. Butolia was murdered during the Holi celebrations in Uttam Nagar.Examining the material on record, the court held that the allegations were serious and prima facie disclosed cognisable offences. Referring to the video footage, the court noted that it showed a gathering of 15-20 women and seven-eight women in burqas had entered the lane, indicating that “some incident had taken place”.The court also held that the investigating officer had misinterpreted its May 11, 2026 order for a comprehensive report on submissions made before Delhi High Court regarding the video footage. At this stage, it said, it was “not… to analyse the veracity of the complaint” and directed immediate registration of an FIR.
