In a relief for Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Uttar Pradesh government has ordered withdrawal of a 1995 case in which he, Shiv Pratap Shukla (now Minister of State for Finance at the Centre), Sheetal Pandey (BJP MLA from Sahajanwa) and ten others were booked for violating prohibitory orders. This comes even as the state government had tabled the Uttar Pradesh Criminal Law (Composition of Offences and Abatement of Trials) (Amendment) Bill, 2017 on December 21.
On December 21, CM Yogi Adityanath had announced that the state government would withdraw 20,000 political cases slapped on various people for reasons like staging a demonstration and holding sit-ins. Speaking on the UPCOCA debate in the state assembly, he said that his government, after due deliberations, had decided to do this. Officials said there were many instances where cases had been slapped for political and other considerations to victimize political opponents and law had been misused in a big way in the past.
CM Adityanath also sought the support of the opposition parties, bitterly opposed to the legislation, to come join hands with the state government to weed out criminals and make Uttar Pradesh a peaceful and investor-friendly state. A firm hand towards crime and criminals was necessary, he added while pointing out that his government had been mandated by the people to turn UP into a peaceful state.
He had also allayed fears of opposition benches and the media that the law would be misused to muzzle their voice or to hound minorities or political opponents. “It is must to break the backbone of organized crime, which has thrived with the support of politicians and officials”, the Chief Minister said.
Notably, the case was lodged at Pipiganj police station in Gorakhpur district, was pending in a local court which had earlier directed that non-bailable warrants (NBWs) be issued against the accused for non-appearance before it. Prosecution Officer, Gorakhpur, B D Mishra, said: “The court had ordered NBWs against all named but the warrants were not issued then.”
On December 20, the state government had sent a letter to the District Magistrate, Gorakhpur, directing that an application be filed to withdraw the case before the court. The government order stated that based on a letter received from the District Magistrate on October 27 and after scrutinising facts of the case, it had been decided to withdraw the case. The letter mentioned the names of Yogi Adityanath, Shiv Pratap Shukla, Sheetal Pandey and ten others.
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