BJP MPs Nishikant Dubey, Manoj Tiwari booked for forcibly entering Baidyanath Temple's inner chamber
Ranchi, Aug 8 (PTI): The Jharkhand Police on Friday said it has registered an FIR against BJP MPs Nishikant Dubey, Manoj Tiwari and others for “forcibly” entering the sanctum sanctorum of the Baba Baidyanath Temple in Deoghar on August 2 and hurting religious sentiments.
The FIR was lodged under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita as per a complaint by temple priest Kartik Nath Thakur for “forcibly entering the inner shrine on August 2 between 8.45 pm and 9 pm” despite a restriction on VIP or VVIP entry during the holy month of ‘Shravan’ in view of a large number of devotees.
"An FIR has been lodged at Baba Baidyanath Mandir Police Station against Nishikant Dubey, Manoj Tiwari, Kanshikanat Dubey, Sheshadri Dubey and others for entering the inner shrine of the temple, hurting religious tradition and sentiments and causing obstacles in government work by entering into a scuffle with police persons deployed for security reasons," an officer told PTI.
The “forcible entry” by the MPs and “scuffle” with policemen resulted in causing fear and panic among thousands of devotees present and a stampede-like situation, as per the complaint.
Thakur said he had lodged the FIR on August 7.
In the FIR, he also alleged that both the MPs entered the inner chamber during the 'kancha jal puja' ritual, resulting in disruptions during the prayer.
While both the MPs did not respond to phone calls, Nishikant Dubey in a post on X said: "This case has been registered for worshipping... So far 51 cases have been registered against me. Tomorrow, I will go straight to the police station from Deoghar airport for my arrest."
During the month of ‘Shravan’, thousands of devotees known as ‘Kanwariyas’ embark on a 105-km pilgrimage from Sultanganj in Bihar to Deoghar, Jharkhand, to offer holy Ganga water at the Baba Baidyanath Dham Temple, one of the 12 ‘Jyotirlingas’.
About 55 lakh ‘Kanwariyas’ have offered holy water at the temple during the ongoing month-long ‘Shravan Mela’ so far.
Additionally, about two lakh devotees offered obeisance through 'Shighra Darshanam' (fast track) facility.
The shrine registered an income of around Rs 7.5 crore between July 11 and August 5, which includes revenue from other temple sources.
This is not the first time the MPs have courted controversy.
On August 31, 2022, an FIR was registered against nine people, including both the BJP MPs, for allegedly forcing Air Traffic Control (ATC) officials to provide clearance for their chartered flight to take off from Deoghar airport beyond the scheduled time.
As per the complaint, all the nine persons violated safety standards by entering the ATC room at the Deogarh airport and “forcibly taking clearance” for the take-off. The FIR had resulted in a spat on social media between Dubey and then Deoghar Deputy Commissioner Manjunath Bhajantri, who has earlier, too, locked horns with him on many occasions.
The Supreme Court in January had confirmed the quashing of the case of criminal trespass registered against the MPs and others for entering the ATC room at Deoghar airport.
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Pak court grants bail to PM Shehbaz's daughter and her husband in graft case
Lahore (PTI): A Pakistani court on Tuesday granted bail to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's daughter Rabia Imran and her husband Imran Yousaf in a mega corruption and money laundering case.
Judge Ashfaq Ahmed allowed the bail petitions of the couple and restrained the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from arresting them till May 7.
"The special court (central) Lahore granted interim pre-arrest bail to PM Shehbaz's daughter, Rabia Imran and her husband Imran Yousaf till May 7 in a mega corruption and money laundering case as the couple personally appeared before the court along with their counsel after arriving from the UK, where they had gone in 2022 to evade arrest," a court official said.
Last week, an accountability court had suspended the perpetual arrest warrants issued against the couple in the multi-billion corruption case, related to the Punjab Saaf Pani Company case.
The accountability court had issued perpetual warrants for their arrest in 2022 during the tenure of the Imran Khan government.
The PM's daughter and her husband had fled to the UK in 2022, and the court subsequently had declared them proclaimed offenders.
Interestingly, the country's anti-graft body -- National Accountability Bureau (NAB) -- that had instituted the multi-billion corruption case against the couple told the accountability court that it has no objection if the court suspends their warrants.
PM Shehbaz was also nominated in this corruption case but has been acquitted because of a lack of evidence.
Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party has consistently alleged that the acquittal of PM Shehbaz and other ruling coalition members in various mega corruption cases is the result of a "compromised judiciary" and a "NAB-PMLN nexus" (referring to a perceived alliance between the NAB and the military-backed government).
His party has claimed these acquittals represent the "demise of justice" and has accused the judiciary of acting as a "silent accomplice" to state-backed political terrorism.
Khan was ousted from power in April 2022 through a no-confidence motion. Subsequently, he was arrested in August 2023 and has been in jail in multiple cases since then.
