Bulandshahr violence: Court drops sedition charge against 38 accused, including BJP and Bajrang Dal leaders, says lawyer

Bulandshahr: A court in Bulandshahr 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 3 December 2018, leading to the killing of Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and villager Sumit Singh. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed to investigate the case and it filed a charge sheet in the court of the chief judicial magistrate on 2 March, almost three months after the incident. [caption id=“attachment_5667451” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, who was killed in the Bulandshahr violence. PTI[/caption] “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 cognisance 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 3 December 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 Bulandhshar unit convenor Yogesh Raj, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha’s Siyana unit head Shikhar Agarwal, Army jawan Jeetender Malik, and Kalua, who first attacked the inspector, surrounded by five to six men.