Bulandshahr violence: Sedition charge dropped against 38 people accused, claims lawyer
Bulandshahr (UP), Mar 5: A court here has dropped the sedition charge against 38 people accused of violence in Bulandshahr in which a police inspector and a civilian were killed, their lawyer claimed on Tuesday.
A total of 38 people, including local BJP and Bajrang Dal leaders, were arrested for the violence that broke out in Siyana tehsil of Bulandshahr on December 3, leading to the killing of Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and villager Sumit Singh.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed to probe the case and it filed a charge sheet in the court of the chief judicial magistrate on March 2, almost three months after the incident.
The court took cognisance of the report on Tuesday.
"During the argument, the court pointed out that the police does not have a requisite permission for pressing IPC section 124A (sedition) against the accused," defence lawyer Bruno Bhushan said.
"The police needs to have permission from the Centre or the state government if charging anyone with sedition, the lawyer claimed.
Bhushan, also a member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), cited Section 196 in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) prosecution for offences against the state and criminal conspiracy to commit such offence to argue that a court cannot take cognizance of a sedition charge without the police having approval of the government.
The police, however, maintained no charge had been dropped and they were awaiting permission from the state government.
"We are awaiting permission... no charge (sedition) has been dropped, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), Bulandshahr City, Atul Kumar Srivastava told PTI. Circle Officer, Siyana, Raghvendra Mishra said: "We have already requested for permission (for pressing sedition charge) and the approval at times takes time because the agency concerned also conducts its inspections before granting permission."
After the December 3 violence, an FIR was lodged at the Siyana Police Station against around 80 people, including 27 named and 50-60 unidentified, for murder, murder attempt, rioting, sedition, damaging public property, among other charges.
Those arrested include Bajrang Dal's Bulandshahr unit convenor Yogesh Raj, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha's Siyana unit head Shikhar Agarwal, Army jawan Jitender Malik, and Kalua, who first attacked the inspector, surrounded by five to six men.
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BJP has history of ‘contradictory alliances’, says BK Hariprasad
Bengaluru: Congress MLC B. K. Hariprasad has launched a sharp attack on the BJP, accusing the party of hypocrisy over its criticism of alliance politics in Tamil Nadu.
In a post on X on Friday, Hariprasad said BJP leader B. L. Santhosh criticising the Congress party’s alliance politics in Tamil Nadu was “not just laughable, but the height of political contradiction.”
He said the Congress has always joined hands with like-minded parties to protect secular and democratic values in the country.
Hariprasad questioned the BJP over several of its past and present alliances across the country. Referring to Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tripura, Bihar and Maharashtra, he accused the BJP of sharing power with parties it had earlier criticised.
He alleged that the BJP had aligned with separatist and corruption-linked political forces in different states for political gains.
“The BJP, which speaks against alliances today, should first look at its own political history,” he said, adding that the party’s record was full of “contradictions and changing stands.”
Hariprasad also accused the BJP of using central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department and CBI as political tools to target opposition leaders, topple governments and influence electoral mandates.
He further claimed that the people of Tamil Nadu had strongly rejected the BJP and its ideology in the recent election.
“Congress forms alliances to protect the Constitution, secularism and national unity, while the BJP enters into alliances only for power,” he said.
