Court discharges AAP legislator in 2015 election campaign case
New Delhi, May 10: A Delhi court has discharged Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator Naresh Balyan in a 2015 case related to the violation of the model code of conduct during the campaigning for the assembly election.
Balyan was booked as he organised a meeting that began earlier than its scheduled time as AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal had arrived early.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal, in the order delivered on Thursday, discharged Uttam Nagar Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Balyan from the case filed under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The Delhi Police had registered a First Information Report (FIR) on January 18, 2015 on a complaint of a member of the flying squad supervising the elections who alleged that the meeting started before the scheduled time of 3 p.m.
However, police did not attach or file any corresponding complaint of the public servant in its chargesheet.
Police said the meeting was to be attended by Arvind Kejriwal and as he came earlier than the scheduled time, the meeting began early. Since the organiser of the meeting was Naresh Balyan, he was made accused in the case.
The defence counsel pointed out that the chargesheet had been filed under Section 188 of the IPC but there was no corresponding complaint of the public servant whose order was allegedly violated.
"Without that complaint, the court is not even empowered to take cognizance of the offence, what to talk of trial of the accused," the court said.
"It seems that police has casually filed this chargesheet without observing the legal principles and without complying with the legal requirement. The offence alleged is violation of an order of a public servant but no such order is placed on record along with the chargesheet."
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India harbouring big and bold dreams in space sector: Shubhanshu Shukla
Kolkata (PTI): Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian astronaut to go to the International Space Station, on Wednesday said the country is harbouring “big and bold dreams”, foraying into human spaceflight after a hiatus of 41 years.
Shukla was the first Indian to visit the International Space Station as part of the Axiom-4 mission. He returned to India from the US on August 17, 2025, after the 18-day mission.
The space is a “great place to be”, marked by deep peace and an “amazing view” that becomes more captivating with time, he said, interacting with schoolchildren at an event organised by the Indian Centre for Space Physics here.
“The longer you stay, the more you enjoy it,” Shukla said, adding on a lighter note that he “actually kind of did not want to come back”.
Shukla said the hands-on experience in space was very different from what he had learnt during training.
He said the future of India’s space science was “very bright”, with the country harbouring “very big and bold dreams”.
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Shukla described his ISS flight, undertaken with support from the US, as a crucial “stepping stone” towards realising India’s ‘Vision Gaganyaan’.
“The experience gained is a national asset. It is already being used by internal committees and design teams to ensure ongoing missions are on the right track,” he said.
Shukla said the country’s space ambitions include the Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme, the Bharatiya Station (India’s own space station), and eventually a human landing on the Moon.
While the Moon mission is targeted for 2040, he said these projects are already in the pipeline, and the field will evolve at a “very rapid pace” over the next 10-20 years.
He told the students that though these targets are challenging, they are “achievable by people like you”, urging them to take ownership of India’s aspirations.
The sector will generate “a lot of employment opportunities” as India expands its human spaceflight capabilities, he noted.
Echoing the iconic words of India’s first astronaut Rakesh Sharma, Shukla said that from orbit, “India is still the best in the world”.
Shukla also asserted that the achievement was not his alone, but that of the entire country.
“The youth of India are extremely talented. They must stay focused, remain curious and work hard. It is their responsibility to help build a developed India by 2047,” he said.
Highlighting a shift from Sharma’s era, Shukla said India is now developing a full-fledged astronaut ecosystem.
With Gaganyaan and future missions, children in India will be able to not only dream of becoming astronauts, but also achieving it within the country, he said.
“Space missions help a village kid believe he can go to space someday. When you send one person to space, you lift million hopes. That is why such programmes must continue... The sky is not the limit,” Shukla said.
“Scientists must prepare for systems that will last 20-30 years, while ensuring they can integrate technologies that will emerge a decade from now,” he said.
Shukla added that he looked forward to more space missions, and was keen to undertake a space walk, which will require him to "train for another two years".
