New Delhi: Rights activist Agnivesh, assaulted when he went to the BJP central office on Friday to pay his last respects to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, has decided to petition the Supreme Court against mob violence.

He told The Telegraph on Saturday that he would move an intervention petition on Monday, citing how mob attacks were continuing despite the apex court's strictures last month.

"The Supreme Court gave several directions to the government, including (a suggestion about passing) a law against lynching, on July 17," he said. "I have twice faced mob attacks by BJP and RSS workers, on July 17 in Jharkhand and on August 17 here. Rakbar Khan too was lynched in Alwar (on July 21) after the court's orders."

Union minister Harsh Vardhan condemned the attack on Agnivesh, saying he had been "unaware" of it till Saturday morning.

Agnivesh says he had come to the BJP office at a time suggested by Harsh Vardhan, and that the minister did not respond to his calls even after he had told the minister's assistant about the attack on him.

"I really didn't know until this morning. My phone was not with me," Harsh Vardhan said.

"After Atalji's cremation, I got busy making arrangements for Madan Lal Khuranaji's son (Vimal), who passed away yesterday. I have known Agniveshji for decades. I will find out what happened. If somebody has done this, nobody will appreciate this. I strongly condemn it."

Agnivesh confirmed that Harsh Vardhan had called him "and expressed sorrow for what had happened. I told him he must publicly condemn it as it was an attack on me in public by his party workers."

Deputy commissioner of police (central) Mandeep Randhawa confirmed that an FIR had been filed.

Agnivesh and two fellow activists, who had also been attacked with him, lodged a fresh complaint with Randhawa's office on Saturday.

They said the "BJP workers" who had assaulted them should be charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, used against terrorists, as this was their second attack on Agnivesh.

They also demanded that a special investigation team probe the case.

Agnivesh, a one-time confidant of Vajpayee, was called a "traitor" and attacked after he told reporters that the former Prime Minister never discriminated on the basis of religion and that his stature was greater than his party's.

On Friday, a professor from Mahatma Gandhi Central University in Motihari, Bihar, was thrashed and doused with petrol by a mob, which included students, for making critical comments against Vajpayee.

Agnivesh's lawyer Mahmood Piracha said the courts needed to do more than issue guidelines.

"The RSS creates excuses for carrying out its predetermined goal of mob lynching. We will request the court to monitor investigations and unearth the real conspirators in government and political parties," he said.

"Unless they are stopped, these attacks can't be stopped by merely punishing low-level political workers and policemen."