Shaheen Bagh women protestors send defamation notice to BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya over ‘paid protest’ charge

While the protest at Shaheen Bagh continues, the protesting women have sent a defamation notice to BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya for calling them paid agitators.

According to India Today, legal notice has demanded an apology and Rs 1 crore in damages from the BJP leader. Two protesters -- Nafisa Bano of Zakir Nagar and Shahzad Fatma of Shaheen Bagh -- have sent the notice. The notice has been sent by the office of advocate Mehmud Pracha who is the legal adviser for the protesters. 

The defamation notice was sent after protesters got angry over a viral video shared by Malviya, which claimed that the women, who were protesting against the CAA, were paid Rs 500 per day.

The notice states that Malviya’s statement of the protesters being paid was false and could have a negative impact on the national and international community. The notice alleged that Malviya's actions comprise an offence under



Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (Punishment for defamation) under which a convict faces jail up to two years and fine.

"By making and propagating false allegations against the protesters and casting aspersions on their motivations, you, the addressee, and other entities, have not only played a fraud on the general public but have also attempted to bring disrepute to the protesters who are bringing the attention of a large number of people on the issues being pressed by this extraordinary exercise of Constitutional freedom," read the notice.

Thousands of people, including women and children, have been protesting at Shaheen Bagh, which has become an epicentre of the anti-CAA agitation in the national capital, for the last over 36 days. Meanwhile, the Delhi police on Monday appealed to protesters at Shaheen Bagh to unblock the road after parents of schoolchildren expressed "deep anxiety" in view of forthcoming board examinations.