On April 18, Roopesh S Bhadauria, National Chairman of the Indian Youth Congress Legal Cell, sent a notice to Dr Angkita Dutta over the allegations she levelled against IYC National President Srinivas BV. The notice was sent on behalf of Srinivas. In the notice, it was claimed that Srinivas was a “well-known public figure”, and the allegations levels by Dutta in tweets and other statements were “sexist, chauvinistic, false and frivolous”, and the language used was “unparliamentary, undignified, defamatory and malicious”.
𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴:-
— Srinivas BV (@srinivasiyc) April 18, 2023
"When one person makes an accusation, check to be sure he himself is not the guilty one. Sometimes it is those whose case is weak who make the most clamour."
Whoever is found indulged in propagating/peddling false & defamatory… https://t.co/A41j6nvn8o pic.twitter.com/aewplKzI1w
The notice noted that Dutta was appointed as Vice President of Assam PYC in June 2018 and later President in 2021, pertaining to the 33 per cent reservation for women across party posts. However, it has been claimed that Dutta could not discharge her duties ably and constantly refrained from “participating and cooperating with the inquiry committee”.
Furthermore, her name coming up in Sharda Chit Fund Scan and ED/PMLA cases was also mentioned in the notice. Interestingly, it appears Congress did not take any action against her after the allegations were raised against her in the scams.
Accusing Dutta of being in touch with BJP, the notice read, “It is also reliably learnt that you are in constant touch with Mr Himanta Biswa Sarma, CM of Assam, and you have been undertaking this exercise of maligning and defaming simply to create an atmosphere of leaving the Congress Party with an objective to join the BJP, the ruling dispensation at the State and the Centre and consequently to have a closure of these cases.” It claimed that the allegations were levelled at the behest of the BJP.
IYC Legal Cell threatened to file a case against her under relevant Sections of the Information Technology Act and the Indian Penal Code. The notice read, “Defaming the character of my client by making false statements and allegations clearly shows slander as well on your part, and if these activities are not stopped immediately, then we will be moving a petition against you in the court of law to make sure that such things are stopped with immediate effect, and you will be made liable for all these acts, and further you will be required to pay compensation to our client.”
Dutta has been asked to apologise to avoid legal action against her.
Angkita Dutta’s allegations against Srinivas
The Assam Youth Congress President took to Twitter to post multiple tweets on her timeline where she opened up about the alleged harassment she has been facing at the hands of National Indian Youth Congress President Srinivas BV and the lack of interest shown by higher-ups in her case.
She alleged that even though it has been six months since she first complained to the party bosses about Srinivas BV, Rahul Gandhi and others have not initiated an enquiry against Srinivas BV and are instead forcing her to keep quiet.
In her subsequent tweets, she elaborated how she had raised the issue with the higher-ups in the party, but no action was taken against Srinivas BV. She questioned why Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, who frequently advocate for women’s empowerment, have maintained a stoic silence on her issue.
